Breakthrough in international visitor numbers.

Compared to the target set in Government Resolution 25/NQ-CP dated February 5, 2025, which aimed to welcome 22-23 million international visitors in 2025, Government Resolution 226/NQ-CP dated August 5, 2025, has raised the expectation to 25 million visitors.

International tourists visiting Hanoi on National Day, September 2nd (Photo: THANH DAT)

This is a major "test," requiring the entire tourism industry to enter a race against time with double the effort to reach the highest visitor growth rate in history.

According to statistics from the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, in the first 10 months of 2025, Vietnam welcomed nearly 17.2 million international visitors. Although this represents a significant increase compared to the same period in 2024 (a 21.5% increase), it only reached nearly 69% of the annual plan. This means that to successfully achieve the goals of Resolution 226/NQ-CP, the tourism industry still needs to fill a gap of over 7.8 million international visitors in the remaining two months of the year.

Faced with the pressure of accommodating a large number of tourists in a short period, starting in mid-September, the Vietnam Tourism Association issued an Action Program focusing on two key solutions: Boosting communication on digital platforms to promote Vietnamese tourism to the world ; and strengthening direct promotion through organizing international famtrip delegations.

According to this program, it is expected that by the end of the year, approximately 300-400 leaders of travel agencies from key markets will visit Vietnam to survey tourism products and resources, and work with domestic travel agencies and businesses to develop cooperation programs to accelerate the number of international tourists visiting Vietnam.

The markets with the fastest potential to attract tourists have been identified as Northeast Asian countries, ASEAN, Russia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, especially the 12 countries that have recently been granted visa-free travel.

Experts assess that these solutions have the potential to impact two groups simultaneously: independent travelers, those traveling in pre-registered groups, and the potential customer base of travel agencies. In particular, organizing international famtrips (for learning, getting acquainted, and marketing) is considered a breakthrough step that will create momentum for short-term growth in the industry.

Within the framework of MICE EXPO 2025 held at the end of September, the first famtrip of the program, consisting of 50 foreign MICE businesses, came to Hanoi to connect and conduct business. Following that, at the end of October, delegations of travel businesses from South Korea and the Philippines also visited Ninh Binh to explore tourism products, opening up many prospects for increased visitor numbers.

This is the first time Vietnam has had a large-scale campaign bringing international famtrip delegations to conduct surveys. The key is that domestic destinations and businesses need to provide attractive, unique services and products that can win over tourists. The product offerings should not only be specialized based on research into the preferences and needs of each market, but also upgraded and improved in quality. Products should adhere to green and sustainable criteria, as this is a current demand from international tourists.

Furthermore, the tourism industry needs to coordinate with airlines to increase flight frequencies to key markets with competitive pricing policies, maximize the exploitation of visa-exempt markets, and strengthen promotion on digital platforms combined with direct promotion at large-scale domestic and international tourism events. It is also necessary to improve the effectiveness of destination management, ensuring a safe, civilized, and friendly tourism environment – ​​a crucial factor in attracting and retaining tourists.

Recently, at the World Tourism Awards 2025 ceremony, Vietnam was once again awarded the titles of “Asia’s Leading Destination” (for the 7th time) and “Asia’s Leading Heritage Destination” (for the 3rd time).

The American magazine Condé Nast Traveller has also recently ranked Vietnam among the top 10 "Most Attractive Destinations in the World" and "Friendliest Countries in the World".

According to Agoda's statistics, in the first six months of 2025, Vietnam rose to become the third-highest-performing country in Asia (after Japan and Thailand) in terms of the number of returning international tourists.

These signals indicate that Vietnam is increasingly asserting its attractiveness and position on the regional and global tourism map. If the target of attracting international tourists is successfully achieved, this will be a milestone marking a strong surge in Vietnam's tourism, contributing to accelerating the process of making tourism a key economic sector.

TRANG ANH

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