Tourism in Vietnam

Tourism in Vietnam is a component of the modern Vietnamese economy. In 2019, Vietnam received 18 million international arrivals, up from 2.1 million in the year 2000. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism is following a long-term plan to diversify the tourism industry, which brings foreign exchange into the country.^[1]

Tourist arrivals in Vietnam have continued to rise in recent years. In 2008, Vietnam received 4.218 million international tourists, in 2009 the number was 3.8 million, down 11%. In 2012, Vietnam received 6.84 million tourists.^[2] This was a 13% increase from 2011 figure of 6 million international visitors, which was itself a rise of 2 million visitors relative to 2010 arrivals. In 2016, Vietnam welcomed 10 million international visitors which represented a 26% increase from the previous year.^[3][4] In 2019, Vietnam with 18 million international visitors was the fifth most visited country in the Asia-Pacific region as per the World Tourism rankings released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization.^[5] The Vietnamese tourist industry was severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with visitor numbers reduced to 3.84 million in 2020, comparable to 2009 numbers.^[6] Visitors have steadily increased after the pandemic, reaching 12.6 million in 2023.^[7]

Tourism is important in Vietnam. For backpackers, culture and nature lovers, beach-lovers, military soldiers and veterans, Vietnam has become a new tourist destination in Southeast Asia. Local and international tour operators offer tours to ethnic minority groups, walking and bicycle tours, photography tours, kayak trips and multi-country trips in particular with neighboring Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Foreign tourists have been able to travel freely in the country since 1997.

The economy of Vietnam has transformed from an agrarian to a service economy. More than a third of gross domestic product is generated by services, which include the hotel and catering industry and transportation. The manufacturing and construction (28 percent), agriculture and fisheries (20 percent) and mining (10 percent) have much smaller shares.^[8]

Tourism contributes 4.5 percent to gross domestic product (as of 2007). After heavy industry and urban development, most foreign investment in Vietnam has been concentrated in tourism, especially in hotel projects.^[9] According to usual report of World Tourism and Travel Council, tourism contributed 6.6 percent to GDP equal VND 279,287 billion (03/2016) which has important contribution promoting development of related sectors such as transportation, entertainment, cuisine etc.

Data source: Ministry of Culture, Sport & Tourism^[10]

Year	Tourist Arrivals	Change
10/2024	14,125,149	27.6%[11]
2023	12,602,434	44,2%[12]
2022	3,440,019	98,2%[12]
2021	3.500	−99%[12]
2020	3,686,779	−78%[12]
2019	18,008,591	16.2%[12]
2018	15,497,791	19.9%[13]
2017	12,922,151	29.1%[14]
2016	10,012,735	26%
2015	7,943,651	0.9%
2014	7,874,312	4%
2013	7,572,352	10.60%
2012	6,847,678	10.8%
2011	6,014,032	19.1%
2010	5,049,855	34.8%
2009	3,772,359	−10.9%
2008	4,253,740	0.6%
2007	4,171,564	16%
2006	3,583,486	3%
2005	3,467,757	18.4%
2004	2,927,876	20.5%
2003	2,429,600	−7.6%
2002	2,628,200	12.8%
2001	2,330,800	8.9%
2000	2,140,100	20.0%
1999	1,781,800	17.2%
1998	1,520,100	−11.4%
1997	1,715,600	6.7%
1996	1,607,200	18.9%
1995	1,351,300

Data Source: Ministry of Culture, Sport & Tourism^[15]

Country	10/2024	2023	2022	3/2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014
South Korea	3,734,722	3,595,062	769,167	819,089	4,290,802	3,485,406	2,415,245	1,543,883	1,152,349	849,384
China	3,010,866	1,743,204	71,862	871,819	6,806,425	4,966,468	4,008,253	2,696,848	1,771,654	1,949,433
Taiwan	1,062,666	851,024	89,463	192,216	926,744	714,112	616,232	507,301	425,060	391,040
United States	636,836	717,073	215,274	172,706	746,171	687,226	614,117	552,644	492,847	445,945
Japan	584,908	589,522	128,764	200,346	951,962	826,674	798,119	740,592	677,477	648,612
Australia	395,695	390,087	99,156	92,227	383,511	386,934	370,438	320,678	323,792	322,424
India	394,509	145,340	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Malaysia*	392,449	470,105	135,007	116,221	606,206	540,119	480,456	407,574	341,125	333,859
Cambodia*	365,757	402,062	140,461	120,430	227,910	202,954	222,614	211,949	220,449	397,399
Thailand*	339,763	489,174	162,567	125,725	509,802	349,310	301,587	266,984	218,025	253,503
Singapore*	266,033	328,195	128,399	51,726	308,969	286,246	277,658	257,041	237,496	202,870
United Kingdom	248,169	253,522	67,337	81,433	315,084	298,114	283,537	254,841	214,866	203,719
France	221,626	215,508	58,107	74,480	287,655	279,659	255,369	240,808	211,780	214,569
Philippines*	200,987	153,168	36,281	36,969	179,190	151,641	133,543	110,967	101,451	104,988
Germany	196,779	200,425	59,975	61,465	226,792	213,986	199,872	176,015	134,784	142,843
Russia	177,810	125,610	28,056	244,966	646,524	606,637	574,164	433,987	339,270	365,163
Indonesia*	150,891	105,380	26,338	21,446	106,688	87,941	81,065	69,653	65,660	68,974
Canada	121,060	133,493	37,894	41,807	159,121	149,535	138,242	122,929	105,189	105,279
Laos*	119,690	120,522	47,002	36,810	98,492	120,009	141,588	137,004	116,349	136,658
Spain	73,430	76,087	22,511	11,783	83,597	77,071	69,528	57,957	45,483	40,824
Italy	69,969	57,054	15,051	17,774	70,798	65,562	58,041	51,265	43,202	36,509
Netherlands	63,703	68,057	19,756	18,265	81,092	77,300	72,277	64,712	48,862	49,837
New Zealand	39,523	33,730	8,681	9,470	47,088	49,854	49,115	42,588	34,731	33,385
Poland	34,332	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Denmark	30,203	30,231	8,250	14,444	42,043	39,926	34,720	30,996	27,285	27,115
Switzerland	26,109	27,929	8,025	10,845	36,577	34,541	33,123	31,475	25,765	32,315
Belgium	25,316	26,353	8,104	7,452	34,187	31,382	29,144	26,231	23,689	23,275
Sweden	25,178	25,755	6,487	21,857	50,704	49,723	44,045	37,679	34,131	30,223
Norway	22,077	22,717	5,235	8,958	28,037	26,134	24,293	23,110	21,130	23,165
Finland	N/A	8,618	2,476	9,994	21,480	22,785	18,236	15,953	16,283	13,867
Hong Kong	N/A	112**	43**	3,780	51,618	62,208	47,721	34,613	TBA	14,871
Total	14,125,149	12,602,434	3,661,222	3,686,779	18,008,591	15,497,791	12,922,151	10,012,735	7,898,852	7,887,013

* Country in ASEAN ** Incomplete data

Vietnam has 31 national parks: Ba Bể, Ba Vì, Bạch Mã, Bái Tử Long, Bến En, Bidoup Núi Bà, Bù Gia Mập, Cát Bà, Cát Tiên, Chư Mom Ray, Chư Yang Sin, Côn Đảo, Cúc Phương, Hoàng Liên, Kon Ka Kinh, Lò Gò-Xa Mát, Cape Cà Mau, Núi Chúa, Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng, Phú Quốc, Phước Bình, Pù Mát, Tam Đảo, Tràm Chim, U Minh Hạ, U Minh Thượng, Vũ Quang, Xuân Sơn, Xuân Thủy, Yok Đôn.

Huế, Hội An, Mỹ Sơn (Quảng Nam province), Hạ Long Bay (Quảng Ninh province), Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park (Quảng Bình province), Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long (Hanoi) and Citadel of the Hồ Dynasty (Thanh Hóa province). Hạ Long Bay is one of New Seven Natural Wonders of the world.

Vietnam has eleven world biosphere reserves,^[16] from north to south: Cát Bà (Hai Phong), Red River Delta (Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh), Western Nghệ An (Nghe An), Cù Lao Chàm (Quang Nam), Kon Hà Nừng (Gia Lai), Langbiang (Lam Dong), Núi Chúa (Ninh Thuan), Đồng Nai (Dong Nai), Cần Giờ (Ho Chi Minh City), Kiên Giang (Kien Giang) and Cape Cà Mau (Ca Mau).

Foreign tourist highly recommend the rural Vietnam and see it as the most beautiful in East Asia (Da Nang-Hue are a "want to go back every year" place) ^{[citation needed]}

Vietnam now has 21 national tourist areas, major tourist sites that are state recognized:

Sa Pa (Lào Cai), Ba Bể (Bắc Kạn), Hạ Long Bay – Cát Bà Island (Quảng Ninh, Hai Phong), Ba Vì National Park (Hanoi), Perfume Pagoda (Hanoi), Cổ Loa Citadel (Hanoi), Tam Cốc-Bích Động (Ninh Bình), Kim Liên (Nghệ An), Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park (Quảng Bình), Ho Chi Minh trail (Quảng Trị), Lăng Cô – Hải Vân Pass – Non Nuoc (Thừa Thiên–Huế and Da Nang), Hội An (Quảng Nam), Van Phong Bay (Khánh Hòa), Phan Thiết – Mũi Né (Bình Thuận), Dankia – Yellow Springs, Tuyền Lâm Lake (Lâm Đồng), Cần Giờ Mangrove Forest (Ho Chi Minh City), Côn Đảo (Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu), Long Hai beach (Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu), Phú Quốc (Kiên Giang), Biosphere Reserve Cape Cà Mau (Cà Mau).

Since 2014, Hanoi has consistently been voted in the world's top ten destinations by TripAdvisor. It ranked 8th in 2014,^[17] 4th in 2015^[18] and 8th in 2016.^[19]

In 2014, Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City appeared in TripAdvisor's 2014 Traveller's Choice Awards for the top 25 destinations in Asia. Hanoi was ranked second, Hoi An tenth and Ho Chi Minh City eighteenth.^[20] In 2017, Đà Lạt is in the list of Asia's overlooked places by the CNN.

Air travel is the most popular form of travel for international arrivals to Vietnam; in 2013, nearly 6 million of the 7.6 million total international arrivals were by air.^[21]

Tan Son Nhat International Airport, which serves Ho Chi Minh City, is the busiest airport with the largest visitor volume. On the other hand, Noi Bai International Airport, serving Hanoi, is the largest airport in terms of land area and total capacity after its opening of the modern international terminal. Other major airports include Da Nang International Airport, Cam Ranh International Airport and Cat Bi International Airport.

In March 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam has suspended issuance of all tourist visa; however, as of September 2020, the country is still closed for foreign tourists until 2022,^[22] with plans to reopen for tourism from a limited number of Asian countries.^[23]

In March of 2022, Vietnam reopened to foreign tourist arrivals after COVID border closures. The industry did struggle to recovery initially, however, in the first seven months of 2024 the country welcomed 9,983,703 foreign tourists putting Vietnam on track to reach its 2019 peak of 19 million tourist arrivals.^[24]

Throughout thousands of years, wars played a great role in shaping the identity and culture of people inhabited the land which is modern day Vietnam,

There are numerous historical sites from Ancient Vietnam to the First Indochina War and the Second Indochina War.

Most notable ancient sites include:

• Citadel of the Ho Dynasty
• Imperial City of Hue
• Mỹ Sơn

Most notable places from the First and Second Indochina War (Vietnam War) for tourists are:

• Củ Chi tunnels
• War Remnants Museum
• Vietnam Military History Museum
• Hoa Lo Prison^[25]

Vietnam's tourism is facing numerous issues such as environmental pollution, poorly maintained heritage sites, aggressive solicitation of tourists, arbitrary price hikes for accommodations, poor infrastructure and transportation, substandard services, and ineffective management.^[26][27] According to industry assessments, since 2006, over 70% of international tourists who visit Vietnam have no intention of returning.^[28]

Due to these shortcomings compared to neighboring countries, Vietnam's tourism sector overly exploits natural attractions. The commercialization of these sites, allowing companies to charge entrance fees—often at high rates—without adequate maintenance, has led to the deterioration or damage of many landscapes, such as Voi Waterfall and Lien Khuong Waterfall.^[29][30] In early 2017, during a conference reviewing the 2016 performance and setting tasks for 2017, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc directed the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to address the issue of tourists not returning to Vietnam.^[31][32][33] He expressed, "I just checked my smartphone and read an article listing seven fears of visiting Vietnam: overcharging, robbery, lack of hygiene."^[34][35]

Travelling and tourism around the world have increased, mainly thanks to growling interest from China's middle hierarchy. Southeast Asia is an attractive tourist destination in recent years, which bolstered economic opportunities for countries located there. Vietnam benefited greatly from such a trend. The tourism demand right before the COVID pandemic was projected to grow yearly roughly by 4 per cent (2019–2029).^[36] While the outlook will most likely not reach this target, we can expect a very volatile outcome that will most likely not be able to meet the estimated growth. Even then, in the year 2018, the Southeast Asia tourist destination had over 130 million international visitors.^[37] (9.3 per cent of total global international visitor flows), and the region's share of the worldwide market is expected to expand further to 10.4 per cent by 2030 (or 187 million visitors).^[38] At the same time, nobody can predict how the Chinese outbound travellers confidence in travelling will be affected. Before the pandemic, the Chinese outbound travellers had a growth of 21.7% annually between 2012 and 2017.^[39]

Vietnam is a very popular tourist destination thanks to its diverse nature and culture. According to the World Economic forum's (WEF), Vietnam ranked 32nd globally in one of 120 countries with reference to its natural and folk sources and followed Indonesia and Thailand is among the Southeast Asia region in the latest 2017 Tourism Competitiveness Index. Vietnam can offer tourists a broad range of activities, starting from eight UNESCO World Heritage sites, various beautiful oceans and beaches. There are cities such as Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh and Da Nang that can offer fulfilling nightlife, shopping malls, and rich and diverse street food cuisine for urban lovers.

In addition, the Government of Vietnam is prioritizing tourism as a critical target to drive socio-economic development. The aim is to make Vietnam a top destination in Southeast Asia. To achieve the goal, the government is now preparing an innovative tourism strategy for the period 2018 to 2030 to spur the development of the tourism industry in the next decade. Many countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, focus on tourism development on their economic development plan. Vietnam had acquired a surge in domestic and international tourism in over ten years, thanks to its strategy of focusing on market segments where it has a competitive advantage. Specifically, the number of multinational tourists to Vietnam had approximately quadrupled from 4.2 million in 2008 to 15.5 million in 2018.^[40] International arrivals increase to 25% from an average of around 9% per year, so travel transport industries such as airline and road also significantly increased. With domestic tourists, strong growth is what the government captures the growing demand for tourism in the region. For foreign tourists, the growth is more prominent than other rival countries in Southeast Asia, with the exception of Myanmar. As a result, Vietnam has been and is a bright spot on the world's tourist map, which is comparable to famous tourist countries in Asia such as Thailand, China, and Japan.

Despite these benefits, the tourism industry in Vietnam still has critical weaknesses in its relatively competitive aspect. The government's allocation of spending to the tourism sector is relatively low at 1.4% of total government spending in 2017. Although the tourism industry is strategically important, the vision for change in the tourism industry has not changed significantly. Indiscriminate disposal of waste, protection of marine life, forest animals, and environmental pollution are the issues that seriously affect this smokeless industry. Another major hurdle associated with foreign tourists is the visa regime. The government is still not open to the problem of visas as only 24 countries in the world are exempt from permits, which reduces the attraction of people to Vietnam.^[41]

However, the COVID-19 pandemic strongly affected Vietnam's tourism as all international commercial flights were banned from landing at all international airports in Vietnam. International tourists, the primary source of revenue for the tourism industry, have declined dramatically in the past year. The number of flights in October 2020 decreased by 80% compared to the same period last year. Hotel room capacity is only 30%. The inability of foreign tourists to come to Vietnam has a massive impact on the revenue of the tourism industry and the economy, as this group spends much more heavily than domestic tourists. In 2019, the tourism industry accounts for 12% of the country's GDP,^[42] international visitors only 17% but more than half: on average, each foreign tourist spends US$673, while domestic tourists only spend US$61. The tourism industry created 660 thousand jobs in the period 2014–2019.^[43] and the drop in tourist spending also brought the food, beverage and retail industries into a dire situation.

The government giving to the good control of the COVID-19 epidemic with the policy of "0 cases in the community" and also the lowest COVID-19 mortality rate in the country.^[44] Domestic stimulus programs not only target Vietnamese but also foreigners living permanently in the country. Vietnam has attracted responses from travel companies, tourism businesses and from localities across the country. Tourism products aimed at human health, sports tourism, medical treatment, ecology, yoga, and nature-friendly tourism are becoming more and more attractive, so domestic tourists are getting more and more attractive. Now there are many options and at ease to travel.

• Visa policy of Vietnam
• List of museums in Vietnam

• Media related to Tourism in Vietnam at Wikimedia Commons
• Visit Vietnam – The Official Tourism Website of Vietnam.