May 2025: International visitors to Vietnam set a record high in the past 10 years

Vietnam welcomed more than 1.53 million international visitors in May – the highest number in May in the past decade. Although the peak season has passed, Vietnam tourism still recorded strong attraction, showing that the trend of "traveling to Vietnam all year round" is gradually taking shape.

Figures released by the General Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance this morning, June 6, show that in May, international visitors to Vietnam reached 1.53 million, an increase of nearly 11% over the same period in 2024 and nearly 12% compared to May 2019, the golden time of domestic tourism. Notably, this number of visitors reached the highest record in May in the past 10 years.

Although the number of international arrivals in May decreased by nearly 8% compared to the previous month, experts said that this was a record number. In fact, this time is past the peak season for international visitors. This shows that Vietnam is gradually becoming a year-round destination for tourists, instead of being seasonal as before.

Representatives of some travel agencies also noted the trend showing that the European tourist market chose Vietnam this summer with interest increasing by more than 20% compared to the same period in 2025, mainly cross-Vietnam routes and high-end beach resorts.

In the first 5 months of the year, international visitors reached 9.2 million, an increase of more than 21% over the same period in 2024. Of which, visitors arriving by air still accounted for a large proportion, with more than 7.4 million visitors; visitors arriving by road accounted for nearly 1.2 million, the rest were visitors by sea.

International visitors were given Vietnamese flags when visiting Ho Chi Minh City on the occasion of the April 30 holiday. (Photo: CTV/Vietnam+)

The top major markets sending the most visitors to Vietnam in May and the first 5 months of the year are still "familiar faces" such as: China is the market sending the most visitors, followed by Korea, and other countries such as Taiwan, India, the US, and Japan.

In terms of growth drivers, Russia is the market with the highest growth rate in the first 5 months of the year, equal to 221% compared to the same period last year, followed by the Philippines (over 200%), Cambodia (over 160%), and India (over 134%).

According to the report, tourism revenue in the first 5 months of 2025 is estimated at 38.4 trillion VND, accounting for 1.4% of the total and increasing by 24.7% over the same period last year. Some localities with revenue in the first 5 months of 2025 increasing compared to the same period last year include: Ho Chi Minh City increased by 30.4%; Dong Nai increased by 29.1%; Lao Cai increased by 24.4%; Hanoi increased by 22%; Da Nang increased by 19.9%.

According to the General Statistics Office, favorable visa policies, enhanced tourism promotion programs, and activities to celebrate major national holidays have attracted an increasing number of international visitors to Vietnam./.

International tourists and young Vietnamese people share the same passion for exploring Ha Giang. (Photo: Vuong Cong Nam/Vietnam+)

During the peak summer of 2025, Vietnam ranked 5th among the most searched Asian destinations by European tourists, after Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. This is information recently announced by online travel booking platform Agoda, based on the number of searches on Agoda in April for check-in dates in July and August.

Notably, the top 5 countries with the highest number of searches for travel to Vietnam are France, the UK, Germany, Russia, and Norway, respectively. Visitors from Russia and Norway have replaced the Netherlands and Spain in the rankings thanks to direct flights and Vietnam's visa exemption policy for citizens of these two countries.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/thang-52025-khach-quoc-te-den-viet-nam-lap-ky-luc-cao-nhat-trong-10-nam-qua-post1042799.vnp