Vietnam’s Tourism in the First 7 Months of 2026: Positive Momentum, but Scaling 25 Million Visitors Remains a Challenge

13.9 million visitors and the puzzle for the last 5 months

After 7 months, Vietnam welcomed 13.9 million international visitors, an increase of 13.8% over the same period and completing about 56% of the 25 million target. July alone reached 1.67 million arrivals, up 6.6% compared to July 2025.

A positive point is that July belongs to the low season for international visitors to Vietnam, but the number of visitors was still nearly equal to June. Compared to the 1.678 million arrivals in June, July only decreased by about 0.5%, showing that demand did not weaken significantly when entering the summer.

However, while nearly 14 million visitors is a positive result, to complete the goal of 25 million arrivals, Vietnam still has to welcome about 11.1 million more visitors in the last 5 months of the year, equivalent to an average of about 2.22 million visitors per month. Meanwhile, the average for the first 7 months only reached nearly 1.99 million arrivals/month.

This means the 25 million target is still feasible but not easy. From August to December, the number of visitors needs to be about 12% higher than the average of the first 7 months. Vietnam must take very good advantage of the year-end international peak season, while avoiding shocks regarding geopolitics, fuel, exchange rates, flight routes, or natural disasters.

Northeast Asia continues to be the pillar of the international market

The market structure is becoming more diverse, but Northeast Asia remains the pillar. China continues to lead with about 3.1 million arrivals, accounting for 22.2%; South Korea ranks second with 2.4 million arrivals. These two markets combined account for nearly 40% of total international visitors.

Compared to the 6-month data, in July alone, it is estimated that Vietnam welcomed approximately:

• 400,000 Chinese visitors;
• 240,000 South Korean visitors;
• 121,000 Russian visitors;
• 56,000 Japanese visitors.

This is only an approximate calculation based on rounded figures in the report, but it shows that China and South Korea still generate very large absolute numbers of visitors.

A point of progress is that the Top 10 is no longer just focused on Northeast Asia. Russia, the United States, Australia, India, Cambodia, and the Philippines are all present, reflecting a more diverse international visitor market.

This is an important movement. Vietnam still needs a large number of visitors from nearby markets to ensure aviation, hotel, and service capacity, but at the same time must develop long-haul markets to increase length of stay and spending.

Russia becomes the most prominent phenomenon

Russia is the most prominent phenomenon. Russia reached 864,000 arrivals, an increase of up to 174%, maintaining third place among source markets and ranking first in Europe.

Notably, the number of Russian visitors is now more than double that of the same period in 2019. This proves that the recovery is not just an effect from the low base of 2025, but has exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

Three factors are supporting the Russian market:

• direct flights have been restored and frequency increased;
• demand for avoiding winter and long-term beach vacations;
• Vietnam has advantages in price, climate, resorts, and favorable length of stay.

However, the rapid growth rate also poses problems regarding service capacity: Russian-speaking tour guides, receptionists, customer care staff, menus, medical services, payments, and digital content in Russian have not yet kept pace. If only the number of visitors increases without increasing service capacity, Vietnam may miss the opportunity to turn Russia’s return into a sustainable market.

Europe grows strongly and signs of “quality improvement”

Europe increased by 53.4%: growth is showing signs of “quality improvement,” increasing by an average of 53.4%, the highest among regions. Besides Russia, Poland increased by 51.3%, the Czech Republic 28.6%, Sweden 24.7%, and Switzerland 21.7%.

This is a result with greater significance than the number of visitors itself.

European visitors usually have:

• long travel distances;
• long holidays;
• demand for visiting many regions;
• relatively high spending levels;
• interest in culture, heritage, nature, and sustainability.

The strong growth of this group shows that the visa exemption policy is proving effective. But a visa only helps guests decide to come. To make them stay longer, Vietnam needs more rail tourism, cycling, trekking, wellness, craft villages, agricultural experiences, community tourism, and 14–21 day inter-regional itineraries.

Therefore, the assessment in a Vietnam Tourism newsletter that Europe is showing a “shift in quality” is well-founded. However, to fully confirm this, the tourism industry needs to publish more indicators such as length of stay, average spending, repeat rates, and revenue by market.

India and the Philippines continue to be two priority markets

India and the Philippines continue to be two priority markets

The Philippines reached 417,000 arrivals, up 63.6%, while India reached 553,000 arrivals, up 42.9%.

The Philippines has advantages:

• close distance;
• favorable English communication;
• demand for relaxation, cuisine, and shopping;
• potential for intra-regional air connectivity.

India has greater potential in terms of scale, especially in segments:

• destination weddings;
• MICE;
• multi-generational families;
• beach resorts;
• high-end guests;
• cinema;
• spiritual tourism.

With 553,000 arrivals after 7 months, India has the potential to approach or exceed the one million mark if air connectivity and products continue to expand.

But the Indian market cannot develop just through general promotion. Vietnam needs teams that understand rituals, vegetarian cuisine, Jain food, large group needs, event spaces, service timing, and the booking behavior of Indian guests.

ASEAN growing fast but still has room

ASEAN is growing fast but still has great potential. Cambodia increased by 40.8%, Singapore 31%, Indonesia 27.3%, and Malaysia 21.6%. This shows that intra-regional ASEAN tourism continues to be an important driver.

The advantages of this group are:

• short flight times;
• easy to develop city breaks;
• guests likely to visit multiple times;
• suitable for festivals, events, shopping, cuisine, and weekend entertainment.

However, Vietnam has not yet fully utilized the advantages of an ASEAN market of more than 680 million people. We need more 3–5 day products, weekend flights, event tours, music, sports, food festivals, and more flexible city break packages.

Positive signals from long-haul markets

The steady increase in long-haul markets is a very good signal. The United States increased by 18.3%, Canada 25.1%, Australia 22.5%, and New Zealand 22.4%.

These are all markets with good spending levels and lengths of stay. Growth of over 20% from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand shows that Vietnam is gaining more attraction among long-haul visitor groups.

However, weaknesses remain:

• lack of some direct flight routes;
• long-stay resort products are not diverse enough;
• night activities and shopping are still limited;
• inter-regional connectivity is not seamless;
• marketing content for each specific market is not deep enough.

Conditions to complete the 25 million visitor target

To reach 25 million visitors, the last 5 months must average about 2.22 million arrivals per month.

This level is high but not impossible, as January and February 2026 both exceeded 2.2 million arrivals, with January reaching about 2.45 million.

Conditions to achieve the goal include:

• China continues to recover strongly;
• South Korea maintains stability;
• Russia faces no flight disruptions;
• Europe benefits from winter and visa exemptions;
• India, ASEAN, and Australia continue to grow;
• aviation has enough operational capacity;
• promotion goes hand-in-hand with immediately sellable products;
• destinations do not compete through excessive price reductions.

Four gaps in the tourism statistics system

The report clearly shows the number of visitors and growth rates, but has not yet answered four important questions:

How long do guests stay?

13.9 million arrivals do not yet indicate the total number of overnight stays and the differences between each market.

How much do guests spend?

Increasing European and long-haul visitors is seen as a shift in quality, but spending data is needed for verification.

Where do guests go in Vietnam?

National figures do not yet show the distribution between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Phu Quoc, Hue, and new destinations.

Do guests return?

The ratio of first-time vs. returning guests is a very important indicator for a mature destination.

Therefore, the next stage of Vietnam’s tourism statistics should add KPIs on length of stay, visitor spending, repeat rate, and revenue per visitor, instead of just focusing on the number of entries.

From promoting individual destinations to building a linked ecosystem

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Hotel Association, the result of nearly 14 million international visitors in the first 7 months shows that policies on visas, aviation connectivity, and tourism promotion are proving effective. However, to maintain sustainable growth, the tourism industry needs to shift from the mindset of promoting individual destinations to building a linked destination ecosystem. Each locality needs to develop characteristic products such as beach resorts, heritage, culture, cuisine, wellness, golf, community, or eco-tourism, while connecting them into inter-regional itineraries so that tourists stay longer, experience more, and return many times. According to him, this approach not only helps increase the length of stay and spending of tourists but also distributes visitor flows more reasonably, reducing pressure on overloaded destinations, while creating development opportunities for many localities with high potential that have not been adequately exploited.

From visitor numbers to value left for the economy

13.9 million visitors is an encouraging result. But the more important figure will be the amount of value those tourists leave for hotels, restaurants, retail, transport, culture, the community, and the local economy.

In other words: “The goal of 25 million visitors is still important to absorb supply and create jobs. But the measure of maturity for Vietnam’s tourism must be each guest staying longer, spending more, and having more reasons to return.”