International tourists visit Ngọc Sơn Temple in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — International searches for Việt Nam's tourism have increased sharply since late 2024 and early 2025, heard the 2025 national tour operators’ conference held in HCM City on Friday.

The event, organised by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), reviewed international tourist arrivals in Việt Nam and discussed ways to achieve this year's target of 25 million international visitors.

Participants highlighted that key source markets of searches include the US, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), and several European countries such as the UK and Germany. Since the beginning of 2025, searches for Vietnam's tourism have grown by 10–25 per cent, ranking seventh globally.

Việt Nam is currently outpacing other Southeast Asian destinations such as the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The top ten most-searched destinations in Việt Nam are HCM City, Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng, Phú Quốc, Nha Trang, Hội An, Vũng Tàu, Đà Lạt, Phan Thiết, and Huế. Notably, Vũng Tàu and Ninh Bình have recorded the highest growth rates, exceeding 75 per cent. The markets showing the strongest interest include the US, India, Australia, Japan, Singapore, the RoK, the UK, Malaysia, and China.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hồ An Phong underlined that the conference took place at a time of national transition, creating both opportunities and challenges for the tourism sector.

Despite strong growth in recent years, making tourism a bright spot in Việt Nam’s economic landscape, he emphasised the need for further breakthroughs to establish tourism as a key driver of the economy, stressing the crucial role of the private sector in driving tourism development and national economic growth.

The Deputy Minister noted that enterprises have a critical role to play by contributing innovative ideas, devising concrete action plans, and strongly cooperating with suppliers and international markets to enhance Vietnamese tourism’s competitiveness.

VNAT Deputy Director Hà Văn Siêu reported that as of July 2025, Việt Nam had 4,361 international tour operators, including 1,330 joint stock companies, 3,025 limited liability companies, and six sole proprietorships, along with 2,115 domestic tour operators. The country also boasts 280 five-star hotels with nearly 93,000 rooms, and 340 four-star hotels with almost 47,000 rooms. More than 42,000 licensed tour guides are currently active nationwide.

However, most tour operators are small- and medium-sized enterprises with limited competitiveness, insufficient resources for large-scale product development and promotion, and a lack of incentives to attract more visitors.

Within the framework of the conference, representatives from ministries, local authorities, and travel enterprises held panel discussions on the Northeast Asian–ASEAN markets, the European–North American–Australian markets, and the Indian–Middle Eastern markets. The discussions focused on measures to boost arrivals in each segment, proposals for more effective promotion mechanisms, the strengthening of transport connectivity, and the restructuring of businesses to meet the growing demand for digital transformation in tourism.

Delegates agreed that to achieve the target of 25 million international arrivals in 2025, Việt Nam must mobilise the combined efforts of all stakeholders, make the most of domestic and international opportunities, and leverage favourable institutional and policy conditions to accelerate growth. — VNA/VNS