The tourism market is shifting from sightseeing towards living and connecting with destinations. Visitors increasingly seek authentic and locally rooted experiences, interaction with local people, culture and nature, as well as small-group and personalised trips with limited environmental impact and clear benefits for communities.
ITE HCMC 2026 has made a strong mark by bringing together its largest and most comprehensive tourism ecosystem to date, with more than 520 exhibitors. They include major tourism and travel groups and international organisations, as well as a number of prestigious global brands making their first appearance at the expo.
Lam Dong welcomed around 900,000 international visitors in the first seven months of 2026, up 15% year-on-year, while international tourist-days increased 18% to nearly 2.9 million.
From its early editions in 2005-2010, which attracted around 210 exhibitors and 120 international buyers from 18 countries, ITE HCMC has grown significantly. This year's event is expected to feature more than 520 exhibitors and brands, 260 international buyers from over 40 countries and territories, and more than 21,000 pre-arranged B2B appointments.
With its large scale, the ITE HCMC 2026 aims to promote tourism cooperation between Vietnam and priority markets such as Northeast Asia, Western Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, and Oceania while also boosting visitor arrivals from the Indian market
Continuing its expansion, ITE HCMC 2026 is expected to attract more than 520 exhibitors, including representatives from 34 Vietnamese localities.
The expo will feature key activities including on-site and online exhibition booths; a digital business-to-business (B2B) buyer–seller matching programme; Vietnam Night; the opening ceremony; programmes for international buyers and media representatives; forums and thematic seminars introducing key source markets and emerging tourism trends; and a tourism consumer festival.