Breakthrough in international visitors

International tourists come to Hanoi on the occasion of National Day September 2 (Photo: THANH DAT)

This is a big "test", requiring the entire tourism industry to enter a sprint race with double efforts to reach the highest growth mark in visitor numbers in history.

According to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in the first 10 months of 2025, our country welcomed nearly 17.2 million international visitors. Although it increased significantly compared to the same period in 2024 (up 21.5%), this result only completed nearly 69% of the yearly plan. This means that in order to successfully implement the target of Resolution 226/NQ-CP, in the last 2 months of the year, the tourism industry still has to fill the gap of more than 7.8 million international visitors.

Faced with the pressure of welcoming a large number of visitors in a short period of time, in mid-September, the Vietnam Tourism Association issued an Action Program, focusing on two key groups of solutions: Promoting communication on digital platforms to bring Vietnamese tourism to the world ; and increasing direct promotion through organizing international famtrip groups.

According to this program, it is expected that by the end of the year, about 300-400 leaders of travel agencies from key markets will come to Vietnam to survey tourism products and resources, work with domestic travel agencies and businesses to build a cooperation program to accelerate the number of international visitors to Vietnam.

The markets with the fastest growth potential are identified as Northeast Asian countries, ASEAN, Russia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, especially the 12 new countries with visa exemptions for tourism.

Experts assess that the above groups of solutions have the potential to simultaneously impact two groups: independent tourists, registered group tourists, and potential customers of travel agencies. In particular, organizing the reception of international famtrip groups (study-get acquainted-market) is considered a breakthrough step to create growth momentum for the industry in the short term.

Within the framework of MICE EXPO 2025 taking place at the end of September, the first famtrip group of 50 foreign MICE enterprises came to Hanoi to connect with each other. Then, at the end of October, a group of Korean and Philippine travel agencies also came to explore tourism products in Ninh Binh, opening up many prospects for tourist growth.

This is the first time Vietnam has had a large-scale campaign to bring international famtrip groups to survey. The important thing is that domestic destinations and businesses need to provide attractive, unique services and products that are capable of conquering customers. The product range provided not only needs to be specialized based on research on the preferences and needs of each market, but also needs to be upgraded and improved in quality. The products need to adhere to green and sustainable criteria because this is the demand of international tourists today.

In addition, the tourism industry needs to coordinate with airlines to increase flight frequency to key markets with competitive pricing policies, maximize visa-free markets, and promote digital promotion combined with direct promotion at large-scale domestic and international tourism events. It is necessary to improve the effectiveness of destination management, ensuring a safe, civilized, and friendly tourism environment - an important factor to attract and retain tourists.

Recently, at the World Travel Awards 2025, Vietnam continued to be awarded the title of “Asia's Leading Destination” (7th time) and “Asia's Leading Heritage Destination” (3rd time).

The American magazine Condé Nast Traveler has also voted Vietnam into the top 10 "Most attractive destinations in the world" and "Friendliest country in the world".

According to Agoda statistics, in the first 6 months of 2025, Vietnam has risen to become the 3rd country in Asia (after Japan and Thailand) with the highest rate of returning international visitors.

These signals show that Vietnam is increasingly asserting its attractiveness and position on the regional and world tourism map. If it can successfully complete the goal of welcoming international visitors, this will be a milestone marking the strong growth of Vietnam tourism, contributing to accelerating the progress of making tourism a spearhead economic sector.

TRANG ANH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/dot-pha-ve-luong-khach-quoc-te-post921727.html