In 2025, Vietnam welcomed a record number of international visitors, buoyed by the rebound of Chinese travelers and relaxed visa policies that helped attract overseas tourists. According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), the country received about 21.2 million international arrivals last year, marking a 20% increase. The previous peak was 18 million visitors in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Bloomberg, Vietnam’s surge is part of a broader realignment in Southeast Asia’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry, largely at the expense of regional titan Thailand.

The outlet said Chinese arrivals to Vietnam, the country’s largest source of tourists, rose 41.3% year on year to 5.3 million, surpassing Thailand’s 4.5 million for the first time. Thailand had long been the preferred choice for Chinese tourists, but a series of incidents over the past year, including kidnappings of visitors and concerns over border tensions, have led to a drop in arrivals from the world’s most populous market.

Vietnam has rolled out a range of measures to boost tourism, including 45-day visa exemptions for citizens of several developed economies. These policies, according to Bloomberg, have spurred strong growth from Europe, with arrivals from Poland jumping 43%, while visitor numbers from the UK, France and Italy each rose by about one-fifth compared with the previous year. Tourist arrivals from Russia soared 197%.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Vietnam now ranks among the world’s fastest-growing tourist destinations, alongside Brazil, Egypt, Japan and Ethiopia. The agency noted that arrivals in these markets have surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Vietnam’s tourism industry generated more than VND1 quadrillion (US$38 billion) in revenue last year.

In 2026, Vietnam aims to attract 25 million international visitors and generate tourism revenue of more than VND1.1 quadrillion.

Vietnam among top 10 favourite destinations for Chinese tourists

VOV.VN - Vietnam has been named among the top 10 favourite destinations for Chinese tourists during the May Day holiday, according to Chinese travel data platform Qunar.