Activities held as part of the National Tourism Year – Hue 2025 have attracted strong interest from a large number of visitors. (Photo: VNA)

Remarkable growth momentum

Looking back at 2025, international arrivals to Viet Nam reached approximately 21.5 million, up 22% compared with 2024. With this result, the tourism sector set a new record, far surpassing the 18 million arrivals recorded in 2019.

Viet Nam was also ranked by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UN Tourism) among the countries with the fastest growth in international tourism worldwide.

According to the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, this achievement is particularly meaningful given that the Asia–Pacific region has only recovered to about 90% of pre-COVID-19 levels.

Meanwhile, the domestic tourism market has continued to develop strongly, becoming an important driving force for the sector’s recovery. Over the past year, domestic tourist numbers reached around 135.5 million. Total tourism revenue exceeded the milestone of 1 quadrillion VND (38 billion USD) for the first time. Tourism is regarded as a bright spot in the country’s socio-economic landscape.

In terms of infrastructure and technical facilities, the system of tourist accommodation has grown rapidly in both quality and quantity, playing an important role in enhancing Viet Nam’s tourism competitiveness. By 2025, the country had around 40,000 tourist accommodation establishments with 800,000 rooms. Tourism development has gone hand in hand with increasingly convenient transport connectivity.

The expressway network has continued to expand, while the air route network connecting Viet Nam with international markets has been further extended. Premium railway services linked to tourism have been introduced, offering new experiences. Inland waterway tourist ports have also been expanded and upgraded to develop river tourism.

With these efforts and notable achievements, the Viet Nam tourism brand has been honoured in numerous categories at the World Travel Awards. Key recognitions include being named the World’s Leading Heritage Destination for the sixth time, Asia’s Leading Destination for the seventh time, and Asia’s Best Golf Destination for the ninth time.

In addition, Lo Lo Chai Village (Tuyen Quang) and Quynh Son Village (Lang Son) were awarded the title of “Best Tourism Villages in the World 2025” by UN Tourism. Alongside many other prestigious awards and titles voted by reputable international media outlets, these honours demonstrate the growing appeal of Viet Nam’s tourism brand on the global tourism map.

Appropriate policies and strategic directions

With strong attention from the Government and the Prime Minister, along with proactive advisory work by the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in coordination with relevant ministries and sectors, continued to issue a series of breakthrough policies.

Notable measures include the further expansion of visa exemption policies, the application of electricity pricing for tourist accommodation establishments equivalent to that of the manufacturing sector, reductions in appraisal fees for travel business licensing, and accelerated administrative reforms to simplify tourism business conditions.

Alongside institutional development, state management activities in the tourism sector have been strengthened. The Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism has focused on inspection, review, rectification and guidance to ensure that agencies, units and enterprises nationwide strictly comply with legal regulations in tourism operations.

In addition to the four core product lines—coastal and island tourism, nature-based tourism, cultural tourism and urban tourism—the Authority has continued to promote and orient the development of new forms such as night-time tourism, medical and healthcare tourism, rural tourism, railway tourism, culinary tourism and golf tourism. These products align with global tourism trends in the post-COVID-19 period, reflecting changes in international tourists’ needs and behaviour.

Innovating promotion and branding for Viet Nam tourism

According to the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, in 2025 it continued to effectively promote public–private partnership mechanisms and mobilise social resources to expand the scale and improve the effectiveness of tourism promotion programmes.

A wide range of tourism promotion and introduction programmes were organised in key markets such as the US, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, as well as in various European countries. The Authority also participated in major global tourism fairs such as ITB Berlin and WTM London to attract international partners and visitors.

At the same time, digital communication activities made a breakthrough. The official international tourism promotion website, vietnam.travel, operated by the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, rose to second place in South-East Asia.

Tourism promotion activities were implemented dynamically, including major events such as National Tourism Year – Hue 2025, VITM Ha Noi, ITE Ho Chi Minh City, local cultural and tourism events, and the Autumn Fair. These activities were particularly vibrant during celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 –2025) and the 80th anniversary of the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (September 2, 1945 –2025). These events created a lively atmosphere and stimulated both international and domestic tourism demand.

In the context of 2025 marking anniversaries of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and many countries worldwide, international cooperation in tourism was strengthened through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. This contributed to expanding market connectivity, promoting people-to-people exchanges, and enhancing the international standing of the Viet Nam tourism brand.

Meanwhile, digital transformation efforts have increasingly gone deeper in a unified and synchronised manner, gradually forming a smart tourism ecosystem to support state management, tourism business operations and improved visitor experiences.

The Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism reaffirmed that 2025 marked the sector’s ascent to a new height with memorable achievements: new visitor records, breakthrough tourism policies, effective promotion and marketing, diversified products, improved infrastructure, and strong international recognition.

These results were achieved thanks to the close attention of the Party and the State, the coordinated efforts of ministries and sectors, the decisive engagement of local authorities and businesses, and the tireless efforts of the entire tourism industry.

Entering 2026, the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism and the whole sector will continue to closely follow the orientations and directives of the Party and the State, proactively propose, advise and implement solutions to develop tourism in a professional, modern and high-quality manner, rich in national identity, with the determination to truly make tourism a spearhead economic sector of the country.