Vietnam welcomes more than 9.2 million international visitors, ranked in top Asian tourism searches

According to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in the first 5 months of 2025, Vietnam tourism continued to record positive growth signals, with more than 9.2 million international visitors, an increase of 21.3% over the same period last year.

Foreign tourists enjoy checking in at Golden Bridge ( Da Nang ). Photo: VNA

International arrivals in May 2025 hit record high

Of the total number of international visitors to Vietnam, 85.2% came by air - the main transport channel for international visitors; 12.9% came by road; 1.9% came by sea. Despite possessing a long coastline and a rich seaport system, the number of international visitors arriving by sea remains low, showing that Vietnam has great potential to exploit the source of visitors arriving by sea.

Statistics for May 2025 alone show that the country welcomed 1.53 million arrivals, an increase of 10.5%. According to travel agencies, compared to April 2025, this is a "not low" number because the peak season for international visitors has passed. In fact, the number of visitors in May reached a record high in the past 10 years. This signal shows that Vietnam is gradually becoming a year-round destination for tourists, instead of a seasonal one as before.

In terms of market size, China continues to be the market with the largest number of visitors with 2.36 million arrivals, accounting for 25.7% of total international arrivals. This result is partly due to the policy of opening borders and the continuous restoration of direct flights, increasing sharply by 47.2% compared to the same period in 2024. South Korea maintains its second position with more than 1.9 million arrivals (20.7%).

Among the 10 markets with a large number of tourists to Vietnam are: Taiwan with 533,000 arrivals, the United States (375,000 arrivals), Japan (342,000 arrivals), Cambodia (325,000 arrivals), India (272,000 arrivals), Australia (241,000 arrivals), Malaysia (221,000 arrivals).

Notably, with a total of 210,000 visitors in the first 5 months, Russia has entered the top 10 and become the market with the largest number of visitors from Europe to Vietnam (an increase of 121.1%). This is a successful result of the growth of Russian tourists to Vietnam thanks to favorable visa policies and a methodical promotion campaign.

In addition, the strong growth from China (+47.2%) and Japan (+18.3%) shows the effectiveness of Vietnam's efforts to restore flights, relax visas, and increase promotion to these markets. At the same time, markets with unilateral visa exemptions from Vietnam continued to grow positively: UK (+19.5%), France (+19.8%), Germany (+16.1%), Italy (+24.7%), Spain (+10.3%), Denmark (+10.9%), Sweden (+15.1%), Norway (+14.3%).

Domestic visitors in May 2025 reached 14 million, of which 9 million stayed overnight. In the first 5 months of 2025, the total number of domestic visitors reached 61.5%.

According to the report, tourism revenue in the first 5 months of 2025 is estimated at 38,400 billion VND, accounting for 1.4% of the total and increasing by 24.7% over the same period in 2024. Some localities with high revenue in the first 5 months of the year include: Ho Chi Minh City (+30.4%, Dong Nai (+29.1%), Lao Cai (+24.4%), Hanoi (+22.0%), Da Nang (+19.9%).

Vietnam in top 5 Asian tourist destinations

International visitors visit Hue Imperial City. Photo: Van Diep/VNA

According to data from online travel booking platform Agoda, Vietnam ranked 5th in the list of Asian destinations most searched by European travelers in summer 2025, after Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. The list is based on accommodation searches in April 2025, for holidays from July to August.

Agoda Vietnam representative said that Vietnam makes a strong impression thanks to its rich natural landscape, unique cultural identity and convenient connectivity through direct flights from Europe.

Among European countries, the top five countries with the highest number of searches for travel to Vietnam are France, the UK, Germany, Russia and Norway. Notably, Russia and Norway have replaced the Netherlands and Spain in the top five, thanks to Vietnam’s direct flights and visa exemption policy for citizens of these two countries.

In addition, Vietnam also recorded impressive growth from emerging markets such as Hungary (+320%), Türkiye (+288%) and Poland (+153%), demonstrating the increasingly prominent position of Vietnamese tourism in the destination choices of European tourists.

Preliminary statistics show that Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi - places where natural landscapes, cultural heritage and vibrant urban life converge, offering diverse and attractive discovery experiences - are attractive destinations for international visitors. A representative of the National Tourism Administration said that favorable visa policies, strong promotional activities and cultural and tourism events associated with major holidays have contributed to attracting a large number of international visitors to Vietnam.

Currently, the tourism industry is continuing to promote domestic and international programs. At the end of June 2025, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will organize a program to introduce Vietnamese tourism in Poland, the Czech Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany to expand the European tourist market to Vietnam, contributing to bringing Vietnamese tourism to the goal of welcoming 22 - 23 million international visitors in 2025.

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/viet-nam-don-hon-92-trieu-khach-quoc-te-lot-top-tim-kiem-du-lich-chau-a-post289395.html