Vietnam leads Asia in international tourism growth

According to the World Tourism Barometer published in May by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), in the first quarter, Vietnam tourism was a bright spot with the highest growth rate of international tourists in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the UN Tourism report, in the first quarter, there were more than 300 million international tourist arrivals globally, an increase of more than 14 million compared to the same period in 2024, an increase of 5% compared to the same period last year and 3% compared to 2019. The global tourism industry still recorded strong growth despite many uncertainties, geopolitical tensions as well as high inflation affecting the cost of tourism and travel services.

By region, Europe is the world's largest destination, recording 125 million international tourists in the first three months of 2025, up 2% compared to the same period in 2024, followed by Africa (+9%), the Americas (+2%), the Middle East (+1%). Asia- Pacific is expected to see the highest growth (+12%).

Compared to the first quarter of 2019, the Middle East region recovered the best (reaching 144%); followed by Africa (reaching 144%), Europe (reaching 105%), and the Americas (reaching 103%). Asia- Pacific is still recovering, reached 91% compared to the same period in 2019.

In addition, data on tourist spending at destinations shows that total international tourism receipts will reach a record $1.7 trillion by 2024, up 15% from 2019, partly due to an increase in average spending per trip, reaching $1,170, higher than the pre-Covid-19 average of $1,000.

Despite the challenges and more cautious outlook, UN Tourism has kept its growth forecast of 3% - 5% in 2025 unchanged.

Notably, according to UN Tourism's statistics, in the first quarter, Vietnam led the Asia-Pacific region in terms of growth in international arrivals (up 30% compared to the first quarter of 2024) and ranked second in terms of recovery in international arrivals (up 34% compared to the first quarter of 2019).

Globally, in the first 3 months of 2025, Vietnam ranked 6th in terms of growth in international tourist arrivals (+30% compared to the first quarter of 2024) and ranked 4th in terms of growth in total tourism revenue (up 29% compared to the same period in 2024).

In the context of Asia-Pacific still facing many difficulties and finding a way to recover after Covid-19, the impressive growth of Vietnam's tourism has truly become a bright spot in the region.

The representative of the National Tourism Administration affirmed that the success story of Vietnam tourism reflects the efforts of the entire industry to synchronously deploy solutions from advising on policy development, innovating content and methods of promotion, implementing tourism stimulus programs, developing diverse products... Especially the attention of the Government, the Prime Minister issued many documents directing to remove difficulties, creating favorable conditions for tourism, in which open visa policies create conditions to attract more and more international tourists to enter Vietnam.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-vuon-len-dan-dau-chau-a-ve-tang-truong-du-lich-quoc-te-185250704155150029.htm