Vietnam welcomes highest number of international visitors in history
In the first 11 months of the year, Vietnam welcomed more than 19 million international visitors, up nearly 21% year-on-year and officially surpassing the record of 2019, when the tourism industry peaked before the pandemic. November alone recorded nearly 2 million arrivals, one of the months with the strongest growth of the year.
According to the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), Vietnam is ranked among the countries with the fastest tourism recovery rate in the world, while the Asia- Pacific region in general has only reached about 90% compared to before the pandemic.
Three main factors that create a breakthrough
Vietnam's outstanding tourism growth was driven by three main drivers, creating an unexpectedly successful year.
Open visa policy
The most obvious impact comes from the new visa policy, which took effect in August. The application of electronic visas (e-visas) with a validity of up to 90 days for citizens of more than 80 countries and the expansion of the visa exemption list have "untied the biggest bottleneck" for international tourists. Thanks to that, distant markets such as Europe and North America recorded a sudden growth in November. Specifically, the number of visitors from the US increased by 30.5% compared to the previous month, Canada increased by nearly 56%. In Europe, visitors from Poland and the Czech Republic increased by nearly 256% and 149%, respectively. This is a group of tourists who tend to stay long and spend a lot.
Expanding air connectivity
The second driving force comes from the continuous improvement of aviation infrastructure. This year, many airlines have opened more direct routes connecting Vietnam with North America, Australia, Europe and South Asia. This not only helps maintain a stable flow of customers from traditional markets such as China, South Korea and Taiwan (China), but also creates momentum for emerging markets such as India (up 47%) and the Philippines (up 84%).
The three major tourist centers of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang benefited directly from this. In 11 months, Ho Chi Minh City welcomed nearly 7.4 million international visitors, Hanoi welcomed more than 7 million and Da Nang also recorded 7 million international visitors staying.
Promote national image
This year also saw a breakthrough in promoting Vietnam's tourism image. Digital media campaigns, cooperation with international platforms, and a series of large-scale music festivals, sports and cultural events have created "new highlights" to attract and retain tourists. The Russian market is a typical example with the number of visitors increasing by nearly 191% over the same period, reaching 593,000, becoming Vietnam's largest market in Europe.
Positive shifts in market structure
In terms of market structure, China still leads with 4.8 million arrivals, followed by South Korea and Taiwan (China). However, the strong growth of distant markets shows that Vietnam tourism is gradually shifting, reducing dependence on a few traditional markets and moving towards diversifying visitor sources.
In addition, investment in new products such as green tourism, health tourism and MICE tourism (conferences, seminars) has contributed to helping tourism revenue in 11 months reach VND85,400 billion, an increase of nearly 20% over the previous year.
Experts say that if the open visa policy is maintained and air connectivity continues to be enhanced, especially when Long Thanh airport (Dong Nai) comes into operation, Vietnam tourism can set new records in 2026.
Source: https://baolamdong.vn/du-lich-viet-nam-bung-no-vuot-ky-luc-don-19-trieu-khach-408776.html
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