The tourism industryNgành du lịch

Main source markets

South Korea has consistently ranked as Vietnam's largest single source of international visitors in the post-pandemic period, followed by China, whose travellers returned more slowly after that country's own border reopening in early 2023. Other significant markets include the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, India and the United Kingdom.

The Chinese market is watched closely by the industry because of its scale: before the pandemic, Chinese visitors accounted for roughly a third of all international arrivals. Their slower return has been attributed to reduced direct flight capacity, lingering travel caution and the depreciation of the Chinese yuan against the Vietnamese dong, though this last point is contested among analysts.

Long-haul markets — notably Western Europe, North America and Australia — tend to have higher average spending per visitor and longer stays, making them a stated priority in Vietnam's tourism promotion strategy even when their absolute arrival numbers are smaller than those from neighbouring countries.

Domestic tourism

Domestic tourism is structurally large and, by trip volume, dwarfs international arrivals in most years. The Vietnamese middle class has grown substantially since the early 2000s, increasing demand for internal travel to beach resorts, highland destinations and urban breaks. Key domestic holiday periods cluster around Tết (the Lunar New Year, typically January or February), the April 30–May 1 reunification holiday, and the September 2 National Day long weekend.

Destinations such as Đà Lạt, Đà Nẵng, Phú Quốc and Sapa draw heavy domestic traffic during these windows. Budget airlines — Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways alongside the flag carrier Vietnam Airlines — have made domestic air travel accessible to a broader income range, shifting some passengers away from the long-distance bus and train routes that previously dominated internal mobility.

Investment and infrastructure concentration

Tourism-linked investment — hotels, resorts, cable cars, casino-resorts and theme parks — is concentrated in a small number of zones. Phú Quốc, now a province-level island unit following the 2025 administrative reorganisation, has attracted the largest single volume of resort development, including the Vinpearl and Sun Group complexes. Đà Nẵng and the adjoining Hội An area form the central coast's primary investment corridor.

In the north, development around Hạ Long Bay has been substantial, with cruise vessel numbers regulated following overcrowding concerns. Highland destinations including Sapa have seen rapid hotel construction, raising questions about infrastructure capacity and environmental impact that remain unresolved in planning discussions.

Foreign direct investment in hospitality is permitted under Vietnamese law, and major international hotel groups operate under management contracts or joint-venture structures. The casino sector is subject to separate and more restrictive licensing rules, with Vietnamese citizens generally prohibited from entering casinos except at designated pilot zones.

Seasonality

Vietnam spans roughly 1,650 kilometres from north to south and has distinct regional weather patterns, meaning that no single national tourism season applies. The north — including Hanoi, Hạ Long Bay and Sapa — is most visited in autumn (September to November) and spring (March to April), when temperatures are moderate and rainfall lower. Winters bring a cool mist to the northern highlands that some visitors find atmospheric and others find limiting.

The central coast around Đà Nẵng and Hội An receives its heaviest rainfall between October and December, driven by typhoon-season tail effects and the northeast monsoon; beach tourism peaks from April to August. The south — Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta and Phú Quốc — has a drier season from November to April that coincides with peak visitor numbers.

These patterns produce marked peaks and troughs in occupancy rates across different destinations simultaneously, which operators account for through differential pricing. Prices vary by season.

Visa policy as a lever

Vietnam's visa framework has been adjusted repeatedly as a deliberate tool for managing arrival volumes and source-market mix. The introduction of an electronic visa (e-visa) valid for 90 days with multiple entries, implemented in mid-2023, was widely credited by industry bodies with accelerating the recovery by removing the need for embassy appointments or visa-on-arrival pre-approval letters.

Unilateral visa exemptions — where nationals of certain countries may enter without any visa for a specified period — cover a shifting list of countries. As of the 2023 expansion, citizens of a number of European countries, Australia, the United Kingdom and others received exemptions of up to 45 days. The exemption list and its durations are subject to change by government decree and should be verified against current official sources before travel.

The length of permitted stays matters economically: longer visa-free windows are associated with higher spending per visitor, a metric that Vietnamese tourism authorities have said they prioritise alongside raw arrival numbers in strategy documents.

Policy context and stated targets

Vietnam's tourism sector is overseen by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Long-term strategy is set out in government-approved master plans, the most recent of which targets significant increases in both international arrivals and tourism's share of GDP through the late 2020s. These targets have been revised more than once in response to the pandemic and are best treated as directional rather than firm commitments.

Recurring policy debates include the management of carrying capacity at heritage sites — Hội An Ancient Town and Hạ Long Bay are frequently cited — the environmental impact of coastal and island development, and the relatively low value-capture from tourism compared with competing destinations such as Thailand. Industry associations and some government reports have noted that a high proportion of tourism spending leaves the local economy through imported goods, foreign-managed supply chains and outbound profit repatriation, though the scale of this leakage is contested in the literature.