Domestic travel is no longer a supporting act. It is the system’s stabilizer, its testing ground, and increasingly, its most reliable source of demand resilience. The question is no longer whether domestic tourism matters, but whether businesses are treating it with the strategic weight it now demands. 

By 2025, domestic trips hit approximately 135.5 million, a nearly 59% increase compared to 2019, signaling a market that has fully transitioned beyond recovery into normalized, high-frequency growth.  

More importantly, domestic tourism has maintained its position as a near-equal contributor to total tourism revenue. Based on analysis from Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 Report, in both 2024 and 2025, it generated an estimated USD 17–20 billion, accounting for roughly 43–51% of total tourism receipts—even as international arrivals surged.

This parity challenges a long-standing industry assumption—that domestic travel is merely a fallback during international downturns. In reality, it has become a foundational pillar of Vietnam’s tourism economy, sustaining cash flow, smoothing seasonality, and reducing exposure to external shocks. 

The structural impact of Vietnam domestic tourism 2025 is not driven by scale alone, but by a fundamental shift in how Vietnamese travelers approach travel. 

Data from Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 Report highlights short, high-frequency trips have become the dominant pattern for Vietnam domestic tourism. In 2025, 56% of domestic journeys last just one to three nights. Travel is no longer centered around one long annual holiday. Instead, it is broken into multiple, shorter trips spread across the year. Alongside this, trip planning has become more independent, with 43% of travelers organizing their own itineraries rather than relying on packaged tours.

This behavioral transformation has direct economic consequences. 

Historically, Vietnam’s tourism revenue was highly concentrated—peaking during Tet, summer holidays, and international high seasons, while dropping sharply during off-peak periods. This created a “lumpy” demand curve, with businesses oscillating between overcapacity and underutilization. 

The rise of short, frequent trips is effectively correcting this imbalance. 

Instead of relying on one or two major trips per year, travelers are now distributing their demand across multiple occasions—weekends, mini-breaks, and spontaneous travel moments. As a result, demand is no longer compressed into a few peak periods but spread more evenly throughout the year. 

This shift does more than smooth seasonality— it improves how revenue is generated and how operations are managed: 

• It creates a more consistent and predictable flow of demand  

• It reduces pressure on peak periods while lifting off-peak performance  

• It enables better workforce planning and operational stability  

• It supports more consistent service quality across the year  

In this sense, evolving Vietnamese travel behavior is transforming the industry’s revenue model. Instead of amplifying seasonality, domestic tourism is absorbing and redistributing demand, turning volatility into stability.

If domestic tourism is now structurally embedded in Vietnam’s travel economy, then the role of businesses must also evolve—from passive service providers to active shapers of demand. 

The most immediate implication is that domestic travel should be treated as a strategic testing ground for innovation, not a secondary revenue stream. 

Unlike international markets, where demand is slower to react and more exposed to external risks, the domestic segment is fast-moving, iterative, and highly responsive. This makes it the most effective environment to experiment, refine, and scale. 

Businesses should be using this market deliberately across three critical dimensions:

1 – Experience Innovation and Product Design

Domestic travelers, particularly those engaging in short getaways, are highly sensitive to convenience, novelty, and relevance. This creates an ideal setting to test new formats—modular itineraries, themed stays, wellness packages, or hyper-local experiences—before scaling them to international audiences. 

2 – Pricing Strategy and Value Engineering

With most domestic trips operating within defined budget thresholds, the market provides clear signals on price elasticity. Businesses can use this to refine pricing models, bundle services more effectively, and identify where travelers are willing to trade up. This is critical for moving beyond price-led competition toward value-led positioning.

3 – Operational Excellence and Service Consistency

High-frequency domestic demand offers something international markets cannot: repetition. This creates the conditions needed to strengthen service delivery, train staff, andoptimize operations continuously. By the time international demand scales, service standards are no longer theoretical—they are already embedded. 

Taken together, these functions position domestic tourism as a live operating system for capability building. 

As the market evolves, the winners will be those who treat domestic tourism not as a fallback, but as the starting point for smarter growth.

Vietnam does not struggle with visibility.  

Within the context of the Vietnam destination brand 2026, the country is widely known, easy to access, and broadly liked across key Asian markets. It fits comfortably into travelers’ mental maps of the region – a destination that is familiar enough to trust, and attractive enough to consider. But that very familiarity raises a more difficult question: what makes Vietnam the preferred choice, rather than just an available one? 

This distinction matters more in 2026 than it did in earlier phases of tourism growth. As destinations converge in visibility and accessibility, the competitive edge shifts away from recognition and toward differentiation ­– the ability to offer something that is not only appealing, but clearly distinct and worth prioritizing. 

According to Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 Report, Vietnam’s current brand profile reflects a system that has been highly effective in expanding reach, but less developed in consolidating meaning. 

Outbox’s Destination Brand Strength Score (128.1) confirms that Vietnam holds a strong overall position. This performance is driven primarily by: 

• Familiarity (160.8), indicating extensive market penetration  

• Appeal (179.3), reflecting broadly positive perceptions  

These are important strengths. They reduce friction in destination choice and enable Vietnam to attract a wide range of travelers, particularly in short-haul and regional markets. 

However, the relative position of Knowledge (109.3) introduces a different dimension. It suggests that while Vietnam is widely recognized, the clarity of what it represents is less fully formed. Perceptions tend to cluster around broad attributes—affordability, natural scenery, cultural richness—rather than sharply differentiated experiences. 

In practical terms, this creates a brand that is: 

• easy to recall  

• easy to consider  

• but less precise in what it stands for  

The result is a destination that is easy to include in consideration, but harder to justify as a deliberate, prioritized choice. 

Broad appeal is often treated as an advantage, particularly in high-growth phases. It allows destinations to attract diverse segments without needing highly specialized positioning. 

However, at a more mature stage, broad appeal can introduce strategic ambiguity. 

When a destination is associated with general attributes – such as affordability – it becomes part of a shared regional narrative rather than a clearly differentiated one. These attributes are valuable, but they are not exclusive. 

This creates a condition of comparative substitutability, where Vietnam is competing within a cluster of destinations that offer similar perceived value. In such an environment, decision-making is influenced more heavily by external variables: 

• pricing differentials  

• flight availability  

• travel convenience  

• short-term promotional activity  

Over time, this reduces the role of brand in shaping demand. The destination remains competitive, but its advantage becomes situational rather than structural.

The consequences of this positioning challenge become most visible when examining visitor advocacy. According to data from Outbox’s Destination Navigate, Vietnam’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) stands at 24.2, significantly lower than regional competitors such as Thailand (53.4) and Singapore (59.2). This gap is not merely a reflection of satisfaction levels, but an indicator of how effectively visitor experiences translate into recommendation behavior.

High-performing destinations benefit from a compounding growth dynamic in which satisfied visitors actively promote the destination, generating organic demand through credible, peer-driven influence. This form of advocacy reduces reliance on paid marketing and strengthens long-term brand equity. The Vietnam destination brand 2026 highlights a key gap in this dynamic. Vietnam’s relatively modest NPS suggests that while visitors generally have positive experiences, those experiences are not consistently distinctive or memorable enough to drive strong word-of-mouth.

As a result, Vietnam remains more dependent on externally driven demand generation and growth must be “re-earned” each year—through: 

• sustained marketing investment  

• competitive pricing strategies  

• tactical promotions to maintain visibility  

This creates a less efficient growth model, where demand is continuously stimulated rather than organically amplified.

At this stage, differentiation should not be viewed solely as a branding exercise, but as a core driver of economic performance. A clearly differentiated destination does more than attract visitors—it shapes how they engage, how long they stay, and how much they spend. 

When a destination is clearly differentiated: 

• it creates a stronger reason to choose, not just a reason to consider  

• it anchors expectations around specific, value-rich experiences  

• it reduces reliance on price as the primary decision factor  

This has direct implications for tourism yield per visitor. 

Travelers who select a destination for its distinctiveness are more likely to: 

• engage in curated or experience-driven activities  

• extend their stay to explore multiple aspects of the destination  

• allocate spending toward experiences that align with perceived uniqueness  

Conversely, when differentiation is weak, visitor behavior remains relatively generic. Even with strong arrival numbers, engagement lacks depth, and spending patterns remain concentrated around basic services. This dynamic helps explain why growth in visitor volume does not always translate into proportional growth in economic value—a pattern that continues to shape Vietnam’s tourism performance.

Vietnam’s tourism sector has reached a clear milestone in 2025. International arrivals have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, and Vietnam total tourism revenue in 2025 has crossed the unprecedented threshold of 1 quadrillion VND (approximately USD 39 billion). By conventional measures, the recovery phase is complete.

However, insights from Vietnam Travel Landscape Report 2026 suggest that while scale has returned, value creation has not advanced at the same pace. This divergence points to a structural issue within Vietnam’s tourism economy—one that is less about demand recovery and more about value efficiency.

The contrast between 2023 and 2025 provides a useful lens to assess how Vietnam’s tourism growth has evolved.

In 2023, Vietnam recorded 12.6 million international arrivals, yet tourism revenue reached USD 29.3 billion—only slightly below 2019 levels. This indicates relatively high spending intensity during the early recovery phase, when travel demand was still constrained but skewed toward higher-value segments.

By 2025, international arrivals increased significantly to 21.1 million, while total tourism revenue rose to around USD 39 billion. Although both indicators improved, revenue growth has largely moved in parallel with volume growth rather than exceeding it.

This suggests that the increase in visitor numbers has not been accompanied by a proportional increase in value per visitor. Instead, the system is expanding in scale without a corresponding improvement in spending efficiency.

The persistence of this pattern is not incidental. It is shaped by how Vietnam’s tourism system is currently structured across demand, product, and positioning.

1 – Market Concentration in Short-Haul, Price-Sensitive Segments

Vietnam’s inbound tourism remains heavily concentrated in Northeast Asian markets. These markets are effective in driving large volumes, particularly during recovery phases, but they are typically associated with shorter stays and tighter travel budgets.

As a result, growth is supported by frequency rather than high per-trip spending.

2 – Brand Positioning Anchored in Affordability

Vietnam performs strongly on familiarity and appeal, particularly as an affordable destination with attractive natural landscapes. These attributes reduce barriers to entry and sustain demand, especially among regional travelers. However, they also anchor price expectations at a lower range, making it more difficult to justify premium pricing or to shift perception toward higher-value experiences.

3 – Limited Depth in Tourism Experiences

Although Vietnam offers diverse attractions, the ability to consistently deliver high-value, differentiated experiences remains uneven.

Gaps in service quality, experience design, and destination management reduce opportunities to extend length of stay or increase discretionary spending—both critical drivers of tourism yield.

4 – Domestic Tourism as a Volume Stabilizer, Not a Yield Driver

Domestic tourism plays a significant role, contributing nearly half of total tourism revenue. It provides stability, high frequency, and resilience.

However, domestic travel in Vietnam is largely characterized by shorter trips and moderate budgets, with the majority of spending below VND 20 million per trip. This reinforces overall volume while placing a natural ceiling on value growth.

To move beyond the high-volume, low-yield trap, Vietnam must shift toward value-led growth tourism, where the focus is not on maximizing arrivals, but on maximizing value per visitor.

This transition requires a coordinated, multi-layered approach:

1 – Redefining success metrics

Tourism performance should be evaluated through yield-based indicators—such as revenue per visitor, length of stay, and experience spend—rather than arrival numbers alone. This reframing is essential to align policy and investment priorities with value creation.

2 – Repositioning the destination brand

Vietnam must evolve from being perceived as “affordable and beautiful” to offering distinct, experience-driven value. This includes strengthening narratives around culture, gastronomy, wellness, and curated journeys that justify higher spending.

3 – Developing mid-premium and premium segments

Rather than targeting luxury at the top end alone, Vietnam has a significant opportunity in the mid-premium space—where experience quality, personalization, and service consistency can drive meaningful increases in tourism yield per visitor.

4 – Leveraging domestic tourism as a testing ground

Domestic travel, already a structural stabilizer, can play a strategic role in piloting pricing strategies, service improvements, and new experience formats before scaling them to international markets.

5 – Diversifying source markets for higher-value demand

Expanding beyond core Northeast Asian markets into long-haul and higher-spending segments will be critical to improving overall value density and reducing dependence on volume-driven growth.

Vietnam’s tourism recovery has been widely celebrated for surpassing pre-pandemic international arrival benchmarks in 2025. Yet beneath the headline numbers lies a structural imbalance that may define the industry’s trajectory over the next decade: the growing concentration of inbound demand in a small number of Northeast Asian markets, particularly China.

The rapid return of Chinese travelers has undeniably accelerated Vietnam’s recovery. At the same time, it has amplified the sector’s exposure to a single external demand engine. As the industry transitions from recovery to long-term growth, the challenge is no longer rebuilding visitor numbers but managing the systemic risks associated with market concentration.

In 2025, Vietnam welcomed 5.3 million visitors from China, representing a 41.3% increase compared with 2024. This surge was instrumental in pushing total international arrivals to 21.2 million, allowing Vietnam to effectively close the pandemic recovery gap.

The scale of this rebound also reshaped regional dynamics. Vietnam received more Chinese visitors than Thailand for the first time in recent years, capturing a larger share of outbound demand from mainland China than its traditional regional competitor.

However, the recovery also revealed how heavily Vietnam’s tourism performance depends on Northeast Asia. China and South Korea together account for a disproportionately large share of international arrivals, meaning the overall performance of the industry is increasingly tied to the travel cycles of just two markets.

This concentration creates a tourism economy that is highly responsive to external demand shocks.

The rapid expansion of Chinese arrivals since 2022 has produced headline growth figures that appear extraordinary. Between 2022 and 2025, arrivals from China grew at a compound annual rate exceeding 200%.

Yet, according to Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 report, much of this growth reflects a statistical rebound rather than structural expansion.  For several years, outbound travel from China remained severely restricted due to pandemic controls. The growth observed in 2024 and 2025 largely represents the restoration of travel patterns that previously existed, rather than the creation of new demand.

As outbound travel stabilizes, this recovery-driven momentum is likely to weaken. Once the remaining recovery gap closes, further growth will depend less on pent-up demand and more on Vietnam’s ability to compete for travelers within a highly competitive regional market.

In practical terms, this means the tourism sector may soon encounter a ceiling where visitor numbers plateau unless new markets begin to play a larger role.

Even as arrival numbers recover, the structure of the Chinese outbound market is evolving in ways that fundamentally reshape demand.

Prior to the pandemic, Vietnam’s Chinese market was largely characterized by high-volume group travel, often organized through traditional tour operators. The current recovery shows a noticeable shift toward more independent and digitally mediated travel behavior, particularly among younger travelers.

This transition is clearly reflected in travel patterns during Golden Week 2025, one of the most important travel periods for Chinese outbound tourism. According to industry data, 56% of travelers chose Free Independent Travel (FIT), while 17% opted for private tours, and only 27% participated in traditional group tours. In revenue terms, FIT now accounts for 47.3% of the Chinese outbound travel market, whereas group travel once represented roughly half of total market value prior to the pandemic.

Digital ecosystems are playing a central role in this shift. Travel discovery, trip planning, and bookings are increasingly mediated through online platforms, mobile payment systems, and social media content, which now function as primary channels shaping destination awareness and travel decisions.

This shift changes the competitive landscape for destinations. Instead of competing primarily through tour operator distribution networks, countries must now compete through digital visibility, flexible travel experiences, and more diverse tourism products.

Destinations that fail to adapt to these evolving expectations risk losing relevance even if overall outbound demand continues to grow.

Even as China’s outbound market evolves, one characteristic remains unchanged: its sensitivity to policy shifts.

Unlike many Western outbound markets, Chinese travel flows can be strongly influenced by government policy, visa regulations, diplomatic relations, and aviation capacity decisions. This means that demand can expand rapidly under favorable conditions but contract just as quickly if those conditions change.

For destinations heavily reliant on Chinese arrivals, this creates a layer of volatility that lies largely outside the control of tourism operators or destination marketers.

Vietnam’s experience during the pandemic demonstrated how quickly such dependence can translate into vulnerability. The abrupt disappearance of Chinese group travel in 2020 exposed just how much of the regional tourism ecosystem had been built around that single market.

As Vietnam’s tourism industry enters its next growth phase, the strategic challenge is gradually shifting from recovery to resilience.

The issue is no longer attracting more visitors in absolute terms. Instead, it is managing the composition of demand.

In 2025, the top five inbound markets accounted for more than half of Vietnam’s international arrivals. This level of concentration means that fluctuations in just one or two major markets can significantly affect national tourism performance.

Reducing that exposure will require expanding the role of emerging markets. India, Australia, and several European countries have shown promising growth potential, supported by improved connectivity and evolving travel demand.

Diversifying the visitor base does not mean replacing China as Vietnam’s largest market. Rather, it means building a broader demand portfolio that allows the industry to absorb shocks without destabilizing overall growth.

The year 2025 marked a definitive turning point for Vietnam’s tourism industry, signaling the formal conclusion of the post-pandemic recovery phase and the beginning of a complex transition toward long-term resilience. While headline figures suggest a sector in full bloom, a deeper Vietnam tourism industry analysis reveals structural constraints that must be addressed to ensure sustainable competitiveness in 2026 and beyond.

Vietnam’s tourism sector entered 2025 with unprecedented momentum, successfully eclipsing pre-pandemic performance benchmarks. International arrivals reached an estimated 21.1 to 21.5 million, representing an approximately 17.5% increase over 2019 volumes. This surge translated into a total tourism revenue of approximately USD 39 billion—a 27% increase compared to 2019—marking the first time the industry’s economic contribution surpassed the 1 quadrillion VND milestone.

However, these figures also highlight a “normalization” of growth. The rapid, recovery-driven spikes of 2023 and 2024 have begun to plateau into a more stable, yet constrained, expansion. While Vietnam was ranked by UN Tourism among the world’s fastest-growing markets in 2025, it simultaneously found itself anchored in third place for Southeast Asian arrivals. This gap suggests that while Vietnam is moving fast, it is still playing catch-up to the brand depth and infrastructure of its regional competitors like Thailand and Malaysia.

Consequently, 2026 represents a pivot point. The industry can no longer rely on the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of returning travelers and must instead focus on deepening its competitive moat through premiumization and service consistency.

As the industry looks toward 2026, Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 Report highlights five major structural trends are emerging as the primary drivers of the next growth phase:

1. Addressing Persistent Market Concentration

Despite persistent efforts to diversify, Vietnam’s inbound tourism remains heavily anchored in a few key geographies. The top three source markets—dominated by China and South Korea—account for nearly 50% of all international arrivals. When expanded to the top five markets, this concentration reaches 55%, exposing the sector to significant systemic risks from geopolitical shifts or regional economic volatility.

Moving toward 2026, the strategy must shift toward “Managed Resilience”. While secondary markets such as India, Russia, and the Philippines have shown promising rises in their share of arrivals, none currently exceed a 3% share individually. The report notes that whether secondary markets like India, Australia, the Middle East, and long-haul Europe will grow faster than core markets remains an intriguing question for 2026. To build a demand base that is structurally more stable and less shock-sensitive, Vietnam must now actively cultivate growth from these non-core markets.

2. The Normalization of the China Rebound

The Chinese market was a primary engine of the 2025 surge, contributing 5.3 million arrivals—a 41.3% year-over-year increase. Notably, Vietnam welcomed more Chinese visitors than Thailand in 2025, which saw 4.5 million arrivals. This return of volume is a significant achievement, but it comes with a fundamental shift in traveler behavior that requires a total recalibration of Vietnam’s destination offers.

The nature of Chinese demand has moved away from traditional mass group tours toward younger, digital-savvy demographics, particularly Generation Z. These travelers are increasingly opting for Free Independent Travel (FIT), digital bookings, and immersive experiences. During Golden Week in 2025, FIT accounted for 47.3% of market revenue, while traditional group travel, which once made up half the market, has seen a steady decline. For 2026, success in this market will depend on adapting to these behavioral changes rather than relying on the group-tour models of the past.

3. Domestic Demand as a Strategic Economic Anchor

One of the most vital Vietnam travel trends 2026 is the maturation of the domestic market into a reliable economic stabilizer. In 2025, domestic trips soared to 135.5 million—a 58.8% increase over 2019 levels. Generating between USD 17–20 billion, domestic travel now contributes nearly half of total tourism receipts, providing year-round stability and ensuring the survival of service providers during international low seasons.

In the 2026 landscape, the domestic market is no longer viewed as a foundational stabilizer of Vietnam’s travel economy. Because domestic travelers provide predictable, year-round demand, the market serves as an ideal “testing ground” for service enhancements and experience design before they are scaled for international visitors. This internal strength allows the industry to absorb systemic shocks and predict broader demand shifts with remarkable accuracy.

4. Closing the Brand Competitiveness Gap

A major headwind for Vietnam is the disparity between its high brand familiarity and its low levels of traveler advocacy. The country’s Brand Strength Score (128.1) remains significantly below the regional average of 147.4. Most critically, Vietnam’s destination Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 24.2 lags far behind regional leaders like Thailand and Singapore, which boast scores above 53.

This “advocacy gap” suggests that while travelers are attracted to Vietnam’s affordability and beautiful landscapes, the actual visitor experience often fails to convert them into enthusiastic promoters. High familiarity combined with low “deep knowledge” means the brand is visible but lacks the depth required to foster long-term loyalty. By 2026, the focus must shift from policy-driven growth (such as visa changes) to brand-led demand, improving service consistency, safety, and ease of travel to move beyond the “transactional zone” of affordability.

5. Value Density Pressure

A critical challenge for the 2026 landscape is the disconnect between visitor volume and economic yield. While international arrivals have surpassed record levels, revenue growth has largely tracked volume rather than outperforming it, leading to a decrease in “value density”. Vietnam remains a high-volume, low-yield destination, with limited evidence of premiumization in visitor spending.

Without an increase in yield, the economic contribution of the sector risks stagnation despite rising numbers. To address this, the 2026 strategy must intentionally focus on “yield over quantity,” developing mid-premium products and encouraging longer stays to improve the economic value generated by each visitor.

According to the Vietnam Travel Landscape Report 2026 Report, the roadmap for 2026 is centered on a shift from recovery-led growth to resilience-led development. The priority is no longer just maximizing arrivals, but actively managing growth through a balanced, value-driven approach. This involves four strategic pillars:

• Active Diversification: Reducing over-reliance on Northeast Asian markets to build a demand structure that is less sensitive to regional shocks.
• Meaningful Differentiation: Moving from general brand appeal to signature experiences that improve the Net Promoter Score and convert visitors into advocates.
• Value-Led Growth: Prioritizing yield and longer stays over simple volume to maximize the economic impact per visitor.
• Leveraging the Domestic Foundation: Using the resilient domestic market as a platform for service reform and innovation.

By addressing these core areas, Vietnam can transition from being a fast-growing destination to a sustainably competitive one, ensuring that its tourism future is defined by resilience and quality.

Ho Chi Minh City, March 3, 2026 – The Outbox Company, a leading Asia-based market research and data analytics firm specializing in tourism and hospitality, officially announces the release of its latest report, Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026: From Recovery to Resilience. 

Drawing on in-depth analyses of both domestic and international markets, alongside proprietary datasets and indices from the Outbox Intelligence system, the report provides a comprehensive assessment of Vietnam’s tourism performance in 2025. It also identifies critical strategic priorities to sustain and strengthen the country’s competitive position in 2026 and beyond.

According to the report, 2025 marked the completion of the industry’s post-pandemic recovery phase, with Vietnam welcoming over 21 million international arrivals—nearly 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels. However, amid rising geopolitical uncertainty, currency volatility, and intensifying regional competition, this recovery has also exposed structural limitations and inherent risks within the current growth model. These dynamics underscore the urgent need for a more sustainable medium- and long-term development approach.

Key findings include:

• Growth concentrated within traditional Northeast Asian “comfort zones”: Vietnam’s inbound market structure remains highly concentrated and largely unchanged from the pre-pandemic period. The top five source markets—China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States—consistently account for approximately 55% of total international arrivals. Notably, China’s reopening has been the single largest growth driver, contributing 5.3 million arrivals in 2025, up 41.3% year-on-year and representing the largest absolute increase across all markets. While this structure accelerated short-term recovery, it also heightens vulnerability to exchange rate fluctuations, visa policy shifts, and geopolitical disruptions.

• Strong visitor growth, but limited value creation per traveler: In 2025, total tourism revenue reached approximately USD 39 billion, up 27% compared to 2019. Yet during 2024–2025, revenue growth was driven largely by the rapid increase in international arrivals, while average value per visitor showed a downward trend. This suggests that Vietnam continues to operate as a high-volume, low-yield destination, raising concerns about pricing power and economic efficiency in the next phase of growth.

• Domestic tourism – A stable pillar yet strategically underleveraged: Even as international arrivals reached record highs, domestic tourism contributed an estimated USD 17–20 billion, representing 43–51% of total industry revenue in 2025. This reinforces its role as the most stable and reliable revenue source for Vietnam’s tourism sector. In the post-recovery phase, the domestic market presents a strategic opportunity to pilot product upgrades, enhance customer experience, and refine pricing structures. Leveraging this segment more effectively can help lay the groundwork for sustainable, value-driven growth across the entire industry.
• Vietnam’s destination brand: High awareness, limited depth: Vietnam’s Destination Brand Strength Index reached 128.1 in 2025, above the neutral threshold but still below the regional average of 147.4. While metrics for familiarity (160.8) and overall appeal (179.3) remain strong, indicators reflecting brand depth—such as knowledge and propensity to visit—lag behind. This gap suggests that while Vietnam enjoys high visibility, it has yet to cultivate sufficiently distinctive positioning to drive deeper emotional attachment and loyalty. This is further reflected in a relatively modest Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 24.2. Moving forward, enhancing service quality, safety standards, and end-to-end journey consistency will be critical to strengthening brand equity and long-term pricing power.

The full report and in-depth analyses are available here.

Tourism events are becoming a crucial part of the strategies many destinations use to increase visitor numbers, extend the duration of stays, and diversify their tourism offerings. In Vietnam, provinces and cities are investing significantly in cultural festivals, music concerts, sports competitions, and other events to attract travelers. However, despite the growing scale and frequency of these events, many localities still lack the tools needed to assess their actual effectiveness. Measuring the socio-economic impact of tourism events is no longer just a desirable option; it is now essential.

The Growing Role of Tourism Events in Destination Development

In recent years, tourism events in Vietnam have increased in both number and variety. From heritage festivals and community fairs to international marathons and beach music shows, these events serve as powerful tools for destination branding and tourism promotion.

Tourism events offer numerous benefits. They enhance the visibility and appeal of destinations, helping them stand out in an increasingly competitive tourism market. Additionally, these events stimulate local spending by creating demand in various sectors, including accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, and retail services.

Another significant contribution of tourism events is their ability to extend the average length of stay for visitors. People often plan longer trips to fully experience both the event and the surrounding destination. Furthermore, events generate employment opportunities and provide avenues for local businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive, fostering economic growth within the community.

Despite these advantages, the lack of reliable measurement and evaluation can lead to inefficient planning, misallocated budgets, and missed opportunities.

Why Measuring Impact Matters

Measuring the impact of tourism events provides valuable data that aids in smarter decision-making for both destination managers and event organizers.

First, data-driven planning helps local governments and stakeholders identify which events produce the most value. With accurate insights, they can determine which events should be expanded, restructured, or perhaps discontinued, ensuring that each initiative aligns with the overall tourism strategy.

Second, measuring impact supports budget optimization. When authorities understand the actual returns from events, they can allocate public funding and attract private sponsorship more effectively, minimizing waste and enhancing the return on investment.

Third, it enables transparent reporting. Clear evidence of outcomes—such as visitor spending and community engagement—helps demonstrate value to sponsors, residents, and higher-level government bodies, fostering trust and accountability.

Finally, measurement is crucial for sustainable development. It highlights both the positive contributions and potential downsides of events, providing opportunities to improve areas like cultural preservation, environmental management, and inclusive community participation.

In summary, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Key Indicators for Measuring Event Impact

At Outbox, we recommend a comprehensive set of indicators to assess tourism event impact from multiple angles:

Economic Impact:

• Direct Spending: This includes what visitors spend during the event on essentials like accommodation, dining, transportation, souvenirs, and ticket purchases. These expenditures directly inject money into the local economy and provide a baseline for understanding visitor behavior and value.
  
• Indirect Spending: Beyond the immediate transactions, events drive indirect benefits through supply chains. Local producers, service providers, and logistics companies see increased demand due to event-related activities, thereby multiplying the economic contribution across sectors.
  
• Job Creation: Events often create both short-term and long-term employment opportunities. From temporary event staff to more sustained roles in hospitality and retail, the increased demand during events supports workforce development and income generation.
  
• Tax Revenue: With higher levels of commerce, local and national governments benefit through increased tax collections, from value-added taxes on purchases to business and income taxes paid by enterprises involved in the event.
  
• Return on Investment (ROI): ROI compares the total revenue generated from the event (including visitor spend and sponsorship) against the cost of organizing it. It helps authorities and organizers assess whether the event delivered proportional value relative to investment.

Social Impact:

• Visitor Satisfaction: Assessing how tourists evaluate their experience gives a clear sense of the event’s quality and its influence on destination perception. Positive reviews often translate into higher revisit intention and positive word-of-mouth.
  
• Resident Satisfaction: It is vital to understand how residents perceive the event. Do they feel proud of it? Do they experience disruptions or inconveniences? Gathering this feedback enables organizers to improve future editions and ensure social acceptance.
  
• Community Participation: A high level of local involvement—through volunteering, attendance, or partnership—signals that the event resonates with the community. It reflects public endorsement and ensures the event is rooted in local identity rather than being externally imposed.
  
• Cultural Integrity: Events should reinforce, not dilute, local culture. Evaluating whether the event celebrates authentic traditions or risks over-commercialization is key to long-term sustainability. The best events foster pride, preserve heritage, and create platforms for cultural expression.
  

Conclusion

Tourism events have significant potential, but without accurately measuring their true impact, much of that potential may remain unrealized. By adopting a structured impact assessment framework, local authorities and event organizers can access valuable data, improve the effectiveness of their events, and strengthen local tourism economies.

Outbox provides professional solutions designed to help destinations throughout Vietnam assess and enhance the socio-economic value of their tourism events. Let data guide you towards smarter and more sustainable event strategies.

In the first 5 months of 2023, Vietnam welcomed nearly 4.6 million international visitors, an increase of 19 times over the same period last year. In May 2023 alone, it is estimated that Vietnam welcomed around 916,300 international visitors, down 6.9% from the previous month. However, it is still 6.7 times higher than the same period last year.

Although the growth rate of international arrivals in the first 5 months of 2023 is remarkable, overall arrivals are only 63% of the number recorded in the same period in 2019, before COVID-19.

Regarding the source market, out of a total of nearly 4.6 million international arrivals to Vietnam in the first 5 months of the year, Asia continues to be the top source. Korea is still Vietnam’s largest market with 1.3 million visitors. According to data from the Bank of Korea (BoK), in Q1 2023, the number of Korean outbound travelers increased rapidly amid the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. More and more Koreans are traveling abroad for entertainment instead of education and training. Although the number of Korean visitors to Vietnam in May decreased by 4.6% compared to April 2023, it is still many times higher than other markets in North East Asia. Specifically, it is 3.3 times higher than the Chinese market, 5.2 times higher than the Taiwan market, and 6.5 times higher than the Japanese market.

In addition, China was the second largest market with more than 398,000 arrivals, up 31% from the previous month. It is a positive sign from this important market. The next positions were the US, Taiwan and Thailand, respectively. Besides, Japan, Malaysia, Cambodia, Australia and Singapore also contribute significantly to the number of inbound tourists to Vietnam.

Thus, with 4.6 million international visitors in the first 5 months of the year, Vietnam has achieved 57.5% of the 2023 target. Nevertheless, in the upcoming low season of international tourism, the target completion depends a lot on how we attract tourists for the peak season at the end of the year. Therefore, suitable products and programs are very important and require careful preparation. Moreover, it is necessary to study visitors’ behavior and psychology for the coming times. The aim is to offer products that meet the needs and desires of tourists, thereby attracting a large number of international visitors and creating a growth momentum.

The COVID-19 pandemic left serious impacts on the tourism and hospitality industry. Recently, many hotels in Ho Chi Minh City have been closed and put up for sale due to a drop in international arrivals and lower-than-expected sales. Many hotel owners need to borrow from banks to do business or rent retail space.

Many large hotels in the city center had to stop operating such as Norfolk, Lavender, Catina Saigon, Rosa Hotel, Le Petit,…

In addition to hotel closures, many hotels are listed for sale or lease on online real estate trading platforms. For example, an 8-story hotel in District 1 is for sale for 138 billion VND (5.8 million USD). This property has a two-year lease for over 400 million VND ($17,000) per month. Or the 15-room Amore Saigon Hotel for rent is about 165 million VND/month ($7,000).

Vietnam tourism is facing many difficulties during the recovery period, especially international tourism. After one year of opening to tourism, the recovery rate of Vietnam international tourism in Q1 was approximately 60%, quite slow compared to the world (80%), but higher than the Asia-Pacific region (54%).

High airfares, a lack of human resources, a limited list of visa-exempt countries, and a short visa-free period also significantly affect the speed of international tourism recovery.

Nguyen Quy Tuan, Senior Director of the Hotel Investment Department APAC, JLL, said that hotels in Vietnam need to update and change products and services to meet the customers’ needs flexibly. In particular, businesses must be flexible in providing a combined experience rather than focusing on just one product or service.

By April 2023, Vietnam’s tourism recorded many positive effects when it welcomed more than 3.7 million international arrivals, equivalent to the total number of international visitors in 2022. This data shows a strong recovery of the tourism industry. According to forecasts, in 1-2 years, key tourism markets can recover to 2019 levels.

There are still many barriers in the tourism real estate market in Vietnam. Although the regulatory interest rate has decreased, investors are still finding it difficult to access new loans and also very cautious in transactions. They should track the market and visitors more closely to quickly catch up with demand and the general recovery.

International tourism in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2023 showed signs of improvement. The number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in Q1 reached approximately 2.7 million arrivals, equal to nearly 80% of 2022 (3.4 million arrivals) thanks to the common recovery of the international tourism market, and China’s return.

There is a change in the largest inbound markets of Vietnam in 2023. Last year, the top 10 were South Korea, the US, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, and China, respectively.

This year, South Korea, the US, and Thailand remain top 3 nations with the most visitors to Vietnam, respectively. Korea led the ranking in the first quarter with more than 810.9 thousand visitors, followed by the US (206.8 thousand) and Thailand (145.1 thousand arrivals). In Q1 2023, the North East Asian markets including Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan are taking back the top source markets to Vietnam with 4 out of 6 positions.

Notably, among the source markets of Vietnam this year, the number of Chinese visitors in Q1 was nearly double the total number of 2022. Vietnam tourism expects visitors from this huge market will soon return a lot. However, to reach 5.8 million Chinese visitors in 2019, we need more efforts.

Although there was a significant increase in the number of tourists to Vietnam in Q1 2023, the Southeast Asian market experienced a decline in rankings. Only Thailand kept its 3rd position compared to last year. Cambodia moved from No.4 to No.9, Malaysia fell from No.5 to No.7, while Singapore left No.7 to rank at No.10.

Besides the two key inbound markets to Vietnam including North East Asia and South East Asia, the US market also emerged. For 2 consecutive years, the US maintains the No. 2 position, only after South Korea. Meanwhile, before the pandemic, in 2019, it only ranked 5th in the top of Vietnam’s inbound tourism market.

Q1 saw a significant growth in international tourism to Vietnam compared to 2022. Although it cannot reach the level of Q1 2019 (4.5 million visitors), it gives a brighter picture of Vietnam’s international market in the coming times.