The “Korea Travel Mart 2025” served as a strategic bridge for strengthening tourism cooperation between Viet Nam and the Republic of Korea (RoK). (Photo: KTO)

The year 2024 marked a significant milestone as bilateral tourism between Viet Nam and the RoK surpassed 5 million visits for the first time—a major leap in bilateral cooperation. Of this total, more than 511,000 Vietnamese tourists visited the RoK, while over 4.6 million of the RoK travelled to Viet Nam.

In the first four months of 2025 alone, the RoK welcomed 183,000 Vietnamese visitors, a 12.4% increase compared to the same period in 2024. These impressive figures highlight not only a strong growth trend but also a solid foundation for expanding tourism cooperation between the two countries.

Notably, MICE tourism (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) from Viet Nam to the RoK also saw remarkable growth. In 2024, nearly 54,000 Vietnamese MICE travellers received support from the KTO—a 32.2% increase over 2023—making Viet Nam the second-largest MICE market in Southeast Asia for the RoK, behind only the Philippines.

Beyond the numbers, the scale of MICE groups from Viet Nam has also been striking. Of nearly 500 incentive groups supported by the KTO in 2024, more than 20 came from major Vietnamese enterprises, each with over 500 participants. This reflects high levels of trust and satisfaction among Vietnamese businesses and underscores the RoK’s growing appeal as a leading international MICE destination.

A cultural performance at Korea Travel Mart 2025. (Photo: KTO)

According to Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, the longstanding bilateral partnership and strong political trust have paved the way for dynamic development in tourism, investment, trade, and people-to-people exchange—areas in which tourism is a particular highlight.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the RoK has become the largest source of inbound visitors to Viet Nam. In the first four months of 2025, Viet Nam welcomed 1.6 million tourists from the RoK. Bilateral tourism continues to grow steadily, underscoring the full recovery of travel between the two countries.

Deputy Director General Ha Van Sieu noted that Viet Nam– the RoK tourism still holds vast untapped potential. Airlines are increasingly launching direct routes to tourist cities, while travel businesses from both countries continue to introduce new and appealing tourism products.

The KTO constantly updates its offerings to meet the diverse needs of Vietnamese travellers. (Photo: KTO)

Park Eun Jung, Chief Representative of the KTO in Viet Nam, stated that to sustain momentum in tourist arrivals, the organisation has developed new tourism products incorporating Korean cultural elements such as K-POP, K-Drama, and Korean cuisine. It is also expanding support for charter flights to compensate for temporarily reduced services and promoting premium and themed travel products such as e-sports tourism to meet the diverse interests of Vietnamese visitors.

This year, to strengthen targeted marketing efforts, the KTO will continue to study Viet Nam’s business and incentive travel markets. Over the long term, it aims to position the RoK as the top destination for Vietnamese MICE travel.

In mid-May, the KTO in Viet Nam hosted the “Korea Travel Mart 2025” in Ha Noi as part of the Korea Travel Festa 2025. With the participation of more than 20 representatives from Korean local tourism promotion agencies and leading travel companies, alongside over 100 Vietnamese tourism associations, travel firms, and airlines, the event created new strategic cooperation opportunities between the two tourism sectors.