Tourism accelerates to lead the region

A bright spot on all fronts.

Celebrating the 65th anniversary of Vietnam's tourism industry (July 9, 1960 - July 9, 2025), this year marks a special milestone as Vietnam has continuously achieved impressive leaps forward on the international stage. In June alone, the number of international visitors to Vietnam reached nearly 1.5 million, a 17% increase compared to the same period last year. This contributed to a total of nearly 10.7 million visitors in the first six months of the year, a 20.7% increase compared to the same period last year, and approximately 50% of the growth target for the whole year of 2025 being achieved.

Tourism is rapidly taking the lead in the region - Photo 1.

Foreign tourists visiting the downtown area of Ho Chi Minh City.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

According to the National Tourism Administration's comparison, the number of visitors in the first six months of 2025 was even higher than the total number of visitors for the whole year of 2016 (10 million) and exceeded by more than 25.7% compared to the same period in 2019 - the golden age of tourism before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In terms of market size, China continues to be Vietnam's largest source market for tourists in the first half of 2025 with 2.7 million arrivals (accounting for 25.6%). Conversely, Thailand is witnessing a sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourists. In 2024, Thailand welcomed nearly twice as many Chinese tourists as Vietnam. However, by the end of the first five months of this year, Chinese tourists to Thailand accounted for less than 14% of the total international visitors, a sharp decrease compared to 28% before the Covid-19 pandemic and 19% in 2024. This is also one of the important factors contributing to a 4.2% decrease in international tourist arrivals to Thailand in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, reaching 16 million arrivals, according to a recent announcement from the Thai Ministry of Sports and Tourism.

If Vietnam continues its upward trend while Thailand's numbers decline, by the end of the year, Vietnam could completely "beat" Thailand, becoming the largest destination for Chinese tourists in ASEAN, and in the next 2-3 years, it could surpass Thailand in total international tourist arrivals.

Tourism is rapidly taking the lead in the region - Photo 2.

Vietnam's tourism industry is witnessing a breakthrough surge.

Photo: NA

The concerns of Thai tourism professionals are entirely justified. Not only Chinese tourists, but also the massive return of regular Russian visitors, along with the strong acceleration of numerous markets from Northeast Asia to Europe and the Middle East, have propelled Vietnam to the top of Asia in international tourism growth in the first quarter, according to the May issue of the World Tourism Barometer by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism). UN Tourism's aggregated data clearly shows that in the first quarter, Vietnam led the Asia- Pacific region in international visitor growth (up 30% compared to Q1 2014) and ranked second in international visitor recovery (up 34% compared to Q1 2019). Globally, in the first three months of 2025, Vietnam ranked 6th in terms of growth in international tourist arrivals (up 30% compared to Q1/2024) and 4th in terms of growth in total tourism revenue (up 29% compared to the same period in 2024).

UN Tourism assesses that, in the context of the Asia-Pacific region still facing many difficulties and seeking a path to recovery after Covid-19, the impressive growth of Vietnam's tourism has truly become a bright spot in the region.

Domestically, tourism is also one of the top 10 bright spots contributing to record-high GDP growth in the first six months. According to the General Statistics Office, increased foreign trade, transportation, and tourism activities contributed 8.14% of added value to economic growth in the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year. Economic experts predict that tourism demand in the last six months of the year will continue to increase, leading to increased shopping and consumption of goods, and stimulating spending on services. Tourism will continue to be a pillar driving GDP growth towards the target of 8% this year.

Tourists spent more.

The extent to which the tourism industry contributes to Vietnam's economic growth shows that tourism is increasingly playing a significant role as a comprehensive economic sector with a strong ripple effect. Vietnam's transformation from a budget tourist destination to a "magnet" for luxury travelers, along with the shift in tourism development from quantity to quality, is clearly demonstrated through the growth in tourism revenue in various localities.

For example, by the end of 2024, Ho Chi Minh City welcomed 6 million international tourists and 38 million domestic tourists, bringing in over 190,000 billion VND in tourism revenue. In contrast, the 8.6 million international tourists and 32.77 million domestic tourists in 2019 only contributed over 140,000 billion VND to the city's budget. Fewer tourists visited, but they spent more. In the first six months of this year, Ho Chi Minh City continued to be an attractive destination for both domestic and international tourists. Overall, in the first six months, travel service revenue is estimated at 23,970 billion VND, an increase of 28.2% compared to the same period last year. Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue increased by 15.8%, and transportation revenue increased by 14.9%. By 2025, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry aims to welcome approximately 8.5 million international visitors (equivalent to 2019), 45 million domestic tourists, and achieve estimated revenue of 260,000 billion VND, nearly double that of 2019.

Similarly, the former Khanh Hoa province also experienced a tourism boom in 2024, welcoming over 10.6 million visitors, a 45.5% increase compared to 2023, but total revenue from tourists increased by 53.9% (exceeding the plan by 30.4%), estimated at nearly 52,272 billion VND.

Most recently, the 2024 Statistical Yearbook, just released by the Ministry of Finance, also shows a significant leap in spending by international tourists visiting Vietnam compared to the previous period. While in the 2022 Statistical Yearbook, average spending per international tourist to Vietnam only increased slightly from US$1,141.5 in 2017 to US$1,151.8 in 2019, by 2023 this figure had surged to US$1,449.7. Notably, while expenses for accommodation, food, transportation, shopping, healthcare, etc., did not experience significant fluctuations, other expenses accounted for the highest proportion and increased most sharply, from 8.1% in 2017 and 9.5% in 2019 to 18.6% in 2023. This reflects the strong investment in entertainment and recreational activities in many tourist hubs over the past period, offering diverse and attractive experiences that encourage tourists to spend more.

Marriott International's "New Luxe Landscapes - Emerging Luxury Travel Trends in Asia Pacific" study, conducted on 1,200 high-net-worth (HNW) travelers from Australia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan at the end of 2024, showed that 68% of travelers planned to spend more on luxury vacations in 2025. With 36% of luxury travelers planning to enjoy coastal holidays, Vietnam's island and beach resorts promise to become ideal destinations attracting the wealthy this year. In Vietnam, the growth of the middle class in major cities is the main driver of demand for luxury experiences, including luxury travel. These factors will drive strong growth in tourism revenue in the coming period.

Tourists spent more.

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