From record numbers to sustainable development strategies, Hanoi is showing remarkable resilience on the Vietnamese and international tourism map.

Hanoi tourism accelerates - far exceeding the year's target

Foreign tourists on the streets of Hanoi.

In just the first 10 months of 2025, Hanoi welcomed more than 28.2 million visitors, reaching 91% of the yearly plan and higher than the total number of visitors in 2024 (27.8 million). Of which, international visitors reached nearly 6.2 million, accounting for 82.6% of the yearly target, while total revenue from tourism reached nearly 110,000 billion VND, equivalent to 84.6% of the target.

These impressive numbers show the incredible resilience of the capital's "smokeless industry" after the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to experts, the A80 national event and the strategy of diversifying tourism products are two key factors that make Hanoi the most attractive destination in the North.

If in the past, international tourists only considered Hanoi as a "transit station" before going to Ha Long or Sa Pa, now, inner-city night tourism products such as Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Hoa Lo Prison and suburban experience routes such as Soc Son, My Duc, Ba Vi... have contributed to keeping tourists staying and considering the capital as the main destination.

Sparkling night tour of the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam. (Source: VNA)

Revenue target of 130,000 billion VND in 2025

October marks a period of comprehensive acceleration for Hanoi. Director of the Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang said the Department is implementing a series of new products such as night experiences at Soc Temple (Soc Son) and community tourism associated with ethnic minority culture in Yen Xuan commune (My Duc).

These two products not only enrich the experience space but also help increase tourists' spending and length of stay.

At the same time, Hanoi expanded cooperation with the southwestern provinces through the 2025 Tourism Development Cooperation, Promotion and Promotion Program, thereby affirming its role as a regional linkage center in the national tourism picture.

Large-scale cultural and tourism events also contribute to creating a strong "spillover effect".

The Hanoi World Culture Festival 2025 has attracted more than one million visitors, including many international tourists, while programs such as “World Culture Day,” “Hanoi Autumn Festival” or “Vietnamese Ao Dai” help heritage blend with modern life, honoring the image of the capital as an “event city.”

Ao dai performance at the Hanoi Tourism Ao Dai Festival. (Photo: Tuan Duc/VNA)

According to tourism leaders, November and December will be the key time when a series of peak activities will take place simultaneously such as the Hanoi Autumn Festival, Ao Dai Festival, destination connection survey programs and the project to innovate the management of the Huong Son relic site (Huong Pagoda) - expected to become a new spiritual and ecological tourism highlight of the North.

These efforts to promote and innovate products not only create momentum for the year-end peak season, but also promote the entire tourism business ecosystem in the capital to move strongly, towards the goal of sustainable growth.

Behind the impressive growth momentum is the strong vitality of more than 2,680 travel businesses operating in Hanoi, including 2,100 international businesses and more than 9,500 tour guides.

This team is the pioneer in expanding the market, designing new products, and connecting domestic and foreign customers.

At the same time, the Hanoi Department of Tourism has stepped up updating accommodation data, implemented campaigns "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese products" in the tourism sector, and at the same time built a plan for industry development in the 2026 period and proposed to host the National Tourism Year 2026.

The goal for 2025 is to welcome 31 million visitors, including 7.5 million international visitors, bringing in 130,000 billion VND in revenue.

Expanding the range of experience

Etihad Airways aircraft.

Hanoi currently owns nearly 4,000 accommodation establishments with more than 71,000 rooms, of which the occupancy rate in October reached nearly 60% - showing that there is still a lot of room to welcome international visitors.

In addition, the advantage of being an aviation hub is helping the capital to rapidly expand its international flight network. Etihad Airways (UAE) has just launched the Abu Dhabi-Hanoi route (November 2) with 6 flights/week, while Indigo (India) will operate the New Delhi-Hanoi route from December.

These routes not only shorten distances but also bring in high-spending tourists from the Middle East and South Asia. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourists from the GCC (Gulf Countries) spend more than $82 billion a year, behind only China, the US and Germany.

Along with convenient connections, Hanoi tourism products are increasingly diverse: from night tours, cuisine, craft villages, community tourism to thematic tours such as "Old streets - new streets," "A day as an old Hanoian," "Hanoi cuisine."

Foreign tourists enjoy cuisine on Ta Hien Street. (Photo: Hoang Hieu/VNA)

Walking streets, food streets combined with street art performances are turning the capital into a "city that never sleeps" - an inevitable direction in developing the night-time economy.

Not only the inner city, suburban districts of Hanoi such as Gia Lam, Ha Dong, Dan Phuong, My Duc… are also actively “renewing” tourism products.

Traditional craft villages such as Bat Trang, Van Phuc, Son Dong, and Phu Vinh are included in the experiential tour, allowing visitors to make pottery, weave silk, and make lacquer or do paper.

At the same time, agricultural-ecological tourism routes such as "a day as a farmer," exploring village-river-dam roads, or suburban bicycle tours are expanding the capital's tourism space outside the old town, creating more "breathing space" for nature-loving tourists.

Foreign tourists explore Quang Phu Cau incense village (Ung Hoa). (Photo: Thanh Phuong/VNA)

Hanoi also promotes regional links with Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh, and Bac Ninh to form inter-provincial tours such as “Hanoi-Tam Coc-Bai Dinh” or “Hanoi-Kim Boi Mineral Spring,” helping to distribute tourist flows and share economic benefits in the region.

Waterway tourism - a new flow for the capital

According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, the city has planned four river tourism corridors including the Red River, the Day River, the To Lich River and the Cau River-Ca Lo River-Tich River. Of these, the Red River is considered a key route, converging nearly 30 cultural relics, dozens of craft villages and unique landscapes on both banks.

One of the highly anticipated development directions is waterway tourism, based on the natural advantages of 7 large rivers with more than 550km in length, of which the Red River alone is 163km long, passing through 15 districts.

Currently, Thang Long GTC Joint Stock Company is a pioneer in exploiting Red River tours, with 9 journeys connecting Hanoi - Hung Yen - Bat Trang - Bac Ninh. Thanks to investing in the Thang Long Victoria II cruise ship, the number of visitors increased from 3,000 (2023) to more than 7,000 (2024), with revenue reaching 3 billion VND, nearly double the previous year.

The luxury cruise ship Jade of River on the Red River. (Photo: VNA)

Although this number is still modest, it is a positive signal for a new direction with great potential - where tourists can watch the sunset on the Red River, Long Bien Bridge, Bat Trang ancient village, and feel the "soul of Hanoi" from the cultural flow.

However, Hanoi's waterway tourism has not yet developed commensurate with its potential. Currently, only Chuong Duong Do wharf meets technical standards, the rest are mostly residential wharves, lacking parking lots, service areas and passenger reception infrastructure.

Tourism expert, Associate Professor-PhD Pham Hong Long said that Hanoi needs a master plan along the Red River, attracting investment in infrastructure and services, because "with the advantages of landscape and culture, Hanoi can completely build river tourism products with its own identity like Ninh Binh or Hue."

Tourists watch the sunset on the Red River on a luxury cruise ship. (Photo: VNA)

Mr. Vu Van Tuyen, Vice President of the Vietnam Community Tourism Association, suggested that the city should invest in modern wharves, safe wharfs, high-end night cruise products, and build a fixed cruise route map and schedule so that tourists can proactively plan their plans.

Once there is a clear incentive mechanism and socialized investment, Hanoi river tourism can become a "trump card," connecting localities in the region and welcoming international visitors by large-scale cruise ships.

Faced with that reality, the Hanoi Department of Tourism has advised the City People's Committee to issue Plan 169/KH-UBND to implement Resolution 06-NQ/TU, period 2024-2025, in which it determines to develop the Chuong Duong Do-Bat Trang-Ninh So-Hung Yen river tourism route, while expanding connections to Bac Ninh, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh.

The goal is to complete infrastructure, improve service quality, diversify products and gradually turn waterway tourism into a typical product.

The Department also plans to reserve land on both sides of the river for cultural-artistic-green spaces, connecting waterways with roads, ensuring navigation clearance and traffic safety.

Long Bien Bridge across the Red River connects the past with the present. (Photo: VNA)

According to Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism Tran Trung Hieu, the city is proposing a policy to encourage socialized investment, creating conditions for professional businesses to participate in exploiting tourist ports such as Chuong Duong Do or Bat Trang.

“We expect that by 2030, waterway tourism will become a typical product of Hanoi, contributing to making the capital a cultural-heritage tourism center of the region,” Mr. Hieu emphasized.

Towards Asia's leading experiential city

From the “new flows” on the Red River to the strategy of improving the quality of experiences, Hanoi is entering a period of strong transformation - aiming to become the leading experience destination in Asia.

Hanoi’s 2026 target is to welcome 35.8 million visitors, including 8.6 million international visitors. However, to reach the international level of Bangkok or Hong Kong – destinations that welcome 30-40 million international visitors each year – Hanoi needs to shift from increasing quantity to improving the quality and value of visitors’ spending.

According to experts, the capital should focus on developing MICE tourism, golf and luxury tourism, targeting groups of customers with spending levels 2-3 times higher than the average. At the same time, it is necessary to invest in entertainment, shopping and culinary areas operating 24/7 to promote the night economy, building unique brands such as "Street Food Capital" or "The Crossroads of Asia and Europe."

Tourists visit the model of the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam. (Photo: Hoang Hieu/VNA)

Increasing direct flights to North America, Western Europe and Australia will expand the source market of visitors, while perfecting the digital tourism ecosystem, developing multilingual guides and cashless payments will help improve the tourist experience, ensuring intelligence and transparency.

That journey requires large investments and close coordination between sectors, but is also the inevitable direction for Hanoi to become a leading destination in Asia - a place where tourists not only "visit" but want to "stay and come back."

When infrastructure, policies and people move together, the capital Hanoi will not only be an administrative-cultural center but also a vibrant, friendly and experience-rich destination, worthy of its position as the "heart of Vietnam tourism"./.