Vietnam experienced a surge in international tourism during January and February of 2025, with figures exceeding the prior year’s by over 30%.
Hue City leaders take souvenir photos with international visitors visiting Hue monuments. Photo: Ngoc Hieu
A photograph captured Hue City officials with foreign tourists at the city’s historical sites.
According to data from the General Statistics Office, Vietnam welcomed almost 1.9 million international arrivals in February 2025, bringing the total for the first two months of the year to nearly 4 million. This represents a 30.2% increase compared to the same period in the previous year.
China stood out as Vietnam’s primary source of international visitors, contributing 956,000 arrivals, which accounted for 27.7% of the total for the initial two months. However, travel experts noted a slight decline in Chinese tourist numbers following the Lunar New Year festivities.
South Korea followed as Vietnam’s second-largest inbound market, with 885,000 visitors. These two leading markets collectively represented 46% of Vietnam’s total international tourism.
Other significant source markets included Taiwan (China) with 218,000 visitors, the United States with 180,000, Japan with 147,000, Cambodia with 142,000, Australia with 105,000, Malaysia with 103,000, and India with 92,000. Notably, Russia returned to the top ten source markets, contributing 79,000 visitors.
A list of the top ten source markets for Vietnam in the first two months of 2025 was provided, sourced from the General Statistics Office.
In the initial two months of 2025, Poland and Switzerland also saw increased visitor numbers, rising by 54.2% and 14.2%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2024. This positive trend coincided with the government’s Resolution 11/NQ-CP, which introduced short-term visa exemptions for Polish, Czech, and Swiss citizens from March 1 to December 31, 2025, as part of the 2025 Tourism Development stimulus program.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism highlighted that the nearly 4 million international arrivals in the first two months of 2025 demonstrated the continued positive growth of Vietnam’s tourism sector, building on the substantial progress made in 2024.
Tourism experts predict that the industry’s goal of attracting 22-23 million international visitors in 2025 is likely to be achieved, given the current strong growth trajectory.
Throughout 2025, Vietnam’s tourism industry will implement promotional programs in key markets such as Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, India, the Middle East, and Chinese-speaking regions. Key events include Vietnam Cultural Tourism Week in Europe, an exhibition at EXPO 2025 Osaka, and participation in international tourism fairs.
As the host of the National Tourism Year 2025, Hue is scheduled to organize 62 events out of a total of over 170 national and provincial events.
Tran Thi Hoai Tram, Director of the Hue City Department of Tourism, stated that Hue’s tourism sector aims to attract approximately 4.8 to 5 million tourists in 2025, with international visitors comprising about 38-40% of that total.
Da Nang will continue to invest in product development, maintain growth in the Korean and Taiwanese (China) markets, enhance promotion in the Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asian markets, and expand into potential markets such as India, the US, and Australia, focusing on resort tourism, cultural experiences, MICE tourism, golf, and wedding tourism.
To meet its target of 30 million visitors, the Hanoi Department of Tourism has outlined six key objectives, with a strong emphasis on reassessing the tourist market and prioritizing the promotion and attraction of key and traditional international markets, including Northeast Asia, ASEAN, EU,…
