Hanoi strengthens tourism ties with Chinese market

As part of Hanoi’s 2026 tourism promotion programme and the implementation of the “Vietnam-China Tourism Cooperation Year 2026-2027,” the city held a Hanoi-Vietnam tourism destination promotion event in Beijing on September 1.

The event aimed to facilitate direct connections among tourism authorities, travel companies and Chinese partners, helping expand visitor exchanges and develop tourism products better suited to market demand.

China is Vietnam’s largest source of international visitors

Vietnam welcomed around 3.08 million Chinese visitors in the first seven months of 2026, keeping China as the country’s largest international source market.

Hanoi alone received approximately 461,438 Chinese visitors staying overnight during the period, accounting for about 12% of the city’s total international arrivals.

The size of this market means China is not only a major source of visitors but also offers considerable room for Hanoi to develop products tailored to different groups of travelers.

According to the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Chinese visitors are showing increasingly diverse interests in cultural and heritage tourism, cuisine, shopping, urban experiences and themed travel products. These are also areas where Hanoi has considerable potential.

Nguyen Tran Quang, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Vietnam and China share many cultural, historical and human values. Cooperation in culture and tourism can therefore continue to serve as an important channel for people-to-people exchanges, mutual understanding and stronger connections between the two countries.

From destination promotion to tourism connectivity

Hanoi considers China one of the key markets in its international tourism promotion strategy.

Rather than focusing solely on promoting destinations, the city is seeking to strengthen connections between businesses on both sides, establish stable and long-term cooperation programmes, and develop tours and travel routes tailored to different market segments.

Quang said Hanoi wants to expand cooperation with major Chinese cities, including Beijing, while continuing to create favourable conditions for tourism businesses from both sides to explore partnership opportunities.

“Hanoi is committed to creating a favourable environment, working alongside the tourism business community, proactively renewing its tourism promotion activities and strengthening international cooperation, with the goal of making Hanoi one of the leading destinations for Chinese visitors to Vietnam,” Quang noted.

This approach points to a broader direction for tourism promotion: not simply attracting more visitors, but extending the value chain from destination promotion and tour sales to transportation, accommodation, shopping, cuisine and experiences.

Beijing and Hanoi seek to expand visitor exchanges

Chinese officials also saw Hanoi and Beijing as important gateways for cultural and tourism exchanges between the two countries.

Guo Zhuoqing, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, pointed out that the two cities have favourable conditions for increasing visitor exchanges, promoting business cooperation and developing tourism products suited to the needs of both markets.

Beijing hopes cultural and tourism businesses from the two cities will make use of networking programmes to exchange visitors in both directions, promote their brands and jointly develop distinctive tourism routes, working toward mutually beneficial cooperation.

Meanwhile, Do Quang Tung, Minister Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in China, noted cultural and tourism cooperation between Vietnam and China has continued to develop positively and has increasingly become a bright spot in bilateral relations.

Tourism not only generates visitor flows but also helps promote trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges, he said, creating a stronger social foundation for bilateral ties.

Turning a large market into better-tailored products

The scale of Chinese visitor arrivals presents Hanoi with a new challenge: how to turn its advantage in visitor numbers into greater tourism value and more stable visitor flows.

Rather than relying on a handful of familiar products, themed programmes focusing on culture, heritage, cuisine, shopping and urban experiences could help Hanoi reach a wider range of travelers while encouraging longer stays and higher spending.

Stronger connections between businesses on both sides could also help establish stable travel routes between Hanoi and Beijing, before expanding to other Chinese cities and destinations in Vietnam.

With China already sending millions of visitors to Vietnam each year, Hanoi’s challenge is therefore not simply to attract more tourists, but to build a diverse ecosystem of products and services that encourages longer stays, richer experiences and sustainable two-way visitor flows.

The message that “tourism is a bridge of friendship” thus goes beyond people-to-people exchanges, offering Hanoi a platform to expand its visitor markets, strengthen business links and increase the value of tourism in Vietnam-China relations.

Hanoi tourism surges in Q1 2026 with nearly 2.4 million foreign visitors

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