Vietnam builds ‘nail’ products to attract 25 million international visitors

“Since the beginning of the peak tourist season, every month my tours are full,” said Mr. Nguyen Manh Hai, a tour guide specializing in international tourists in Vietnam. Mr. Hai said that in the past, the group of Italian tourists was not many, but from the end of 2025 to the beginning of this year, the number of tourists increased sharply, and many travel companies continuously contacted them to lead the group. According to data released by the Department of Statistics in early February, Italy was one of the markets with strong growth in January, 1.7 times higher than the previous month.

The group of 11 Italian guests led by Mr. Hai on a 7-day journey in Ho Chi Minh City are among the potential guests of Vietnamese tourism. In 2026, the tourism industry aims to welcome 25 million visitors, an increase of 20% compared to 2025.

To achieve the goal of welcoming 25 million visitors by 2026, the tourism industry deploys many synchronous solutions from perfecting institutions to improving the quality of products and services to meet the diverse needs of the market.

Director of the Asian Development Institute Pham Hai Quynh compared this goal “to a difficult problem”, requiring the entire industry to make a strong breakthrough. However, Mr. Quynh believes that this number is not too much because it is built on last year’s record growth momentum.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Pham Ha, CEO of LuxGroup commented that 25 million visitors “is an ambitious number”, reflecting Vietnam’s growing confidence on the global tourism map.

The National Tourism Administration believes that the international market is entering a period of fierce competition as many countries continuously reposition their brands and launch large-scale promotional campaigns to gain market share.

Tourist tastes change with a tendency to prioritize safe, unique and strongly communicated destinations. Users now have the habit of searching for information online, prefer short video content and often decide to choose a destination based on immediate emotions.

The development of digital technology, artificial intelligence and social networking platforms makes the race for market share not only take place at the destination, but also in the online environment. This reality forces countries to invest methodically to maintain their position on the international tourism map.

The National Tourism Administration said this year it will synthesize promotion information from localities and businesses to build a common promotion plan. This helps units proactively use resources, develop specific products for each region and avoid duplicating events.

The above move is aimed at maintaining the growth momentum of international visitors, while enhancing Vietnamese brand recognition in the race for global market share. To realize the goal, the tourism industry will focus on key market groups with fast growth, high spending levels and long stays.

The targeted customer files include traditional destinations with direct flights and large scale (Northeast Asia), short-distance markets (ASEAN), and long-distance but high-spending markets (Western Europe, North America, Northern Europe).

In addition, Vietnam is also targeting distant markets with good growth such as Australia, Russia, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe. The Middle Eastern tourist group (UAE, Gulf countries) has also become the “chosen” group of tourists for the Vietnamese tourism industry because this is a high-end tourist market, looking for experiences and expensive vacations.

The next step is more important, according to many tourism experts, Vietnam needs to have “nail” products to attract visitors.

At the Announcement Ceremony of Tourism Promotion Programs in 2026, Director of the National Department of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh said that Vietnam has 4 key products to attract international visitors, making them “spend a lot, stay long”: island tourism, golf, MICE and cuisine.

Conquering key markets such as Europe, North America, Australia or the luxury segment from India and China, Vietnam needs “unique” and personalized products. Developing isolated resorts, focusing on spa experiences, meditation, yoga and macrobiotic cuisine – the product line that “retains” guests the longest and consumes the most budget of tourists, according to Mr. Pham Hai Quynh.

Golf and MICE tourism are also customers with spending levels 3-4 times higher than regular tourists. Hosting international golf tournaments and major economic events will become a magnet to attract the upper class. Instead of passing by destinations, the tourism industry needs in-depth experiential tours such as exploring heritage by luxury trains, culinary tours with the participation of Michelin chefs, or experiencing unique indigenous culture in heritage regions such as Hoi An, Hue, and Ha Giang.

Today’s high-spending customer group is very concerned about the environment. Therefore, tourism products without plastic waste and nature conservation will be a big plus for them to choose Vietnam instead of neighboring countries, according to Mr. Quynh of the Asian Tourism Development Institute.

The openness of the e-visa policy, the increase in temporary residence duration and increasingly convenient air connections are practical “leverages” to realize this number of 25 million.

However, instead of looking at the number of 25 million, the tourism industry is aiming for a deeper goal: total tourism revenue – showing that Vietnam is not just chasing the number of visitors but is focusing on markets with high affordability.

To further contribute to the journey of promotion – market orientation – creating key products, the tourism industry also upgrades infrastructure and creates convenient traffic conditions for visitors by closely connecting with airlines. Data released in early January by the Department of Statistics showed that in 2025, Vietnam will welcome nearly 21.2 million arrivals, of which more than 17.8 million will enter the country by air – accounting for nearly 84% of total arrivals. Boeing forecasts that Vietnam will become the fastest growing aviation market in Southeast Asia by 2030, with an average rate of more than 8% per year.

Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines Nguyen Quang Trung said that this year, the airline is ready for 140 tourism promotion programs with the theme “Fly high in Vietnam’s aspirations”, to contribute to bringing more and more international visitors.

Currently, Vietnam has more than 70 flight routes to destinations on 4 continents. This year, the airline will increase the number of routes to more than 80, when opening new routes such as direct flights to Amsterdam, the Netherlands – a destination with high-spending, long-stay customers, or Da Nang – Osaka, Da Nang – Narita and flights to India.

Vietnamese airlines have also increased flight frequency on flight routes that are familiar to international passengers such as Hanoi – Sydney, Hanoi – Melbourne. With more frequency and newly opened routes, the tourism industry has more motivation to attract international visitors.

“Through connecting destinations, we hope to contribute to bringing Vietnam higher on the world tourism map,” Mr. Trung said.

However, Mr. Quynh said that the industry also needs to look directly at the remaining bottlenecks. After the pandemic, the quality of tourism personnel is still not really uniform. Need to upgrade vocational skills, especially foreign language ability and professional service mindset for high-end customers. The situation of soliciting visitors, price gouging and waste problems in key tourist areas are still “ripples” that reduce the tourist experience.

“Currently, visitors to Vietnam still complain that they don’t know where to go at night,” Mr. Quynh said.

LuxGroup CEO Pham Ha believes that the biggest bottleneck in Vietnamese tourism today is not in infrastructure, but in people. According to the Department of Tourism, the industry needs about 40,000 workers each year but can only meet half. Of these, the number of personnel with formal or advanced training accounts for no more than half.

“High-end tourism cannot operate with the mindset of cheap labor. To welcome 5-star guests, we must invest in 5-star personnel, from skills, service culture to professional pride,” Mr. Ha added.

Vietnam possesses the advantage of a thousand-year-old culture, friendly and hospitable people, rich cuisine and blessed nature with a coastline of more than 3,000 km. But these advantages the tourism industry can only turn into real value when told properly.

According to Mr. Ha, high-spending guests do not look for flashy resorts. They look for sophistication in identity: a true cup of coffee, a heritage story told with emotion, a timely and sincere smile.

“Future tourism is not measured by the number of people who come, but by the number of people who want to return. When we do that, money will find its way to the tourism industry – in a sustainable way,” Mr. Ha said.