Looking ahead to 2026, the tourism sector targets about 25 million international arrivals, 150 million domestic holidaymakers and total revenue of around 1.12 quadrillion VND (approximately 43 billion USD), reflecting its ambition to develop tourism into a spearhead economic sector in line with the Government's goals.
Selecting Vietnam for this year’s list, the New York Times editorial board described the S-shaped country as a rapidly rising tourism powerhouse in Southeast Asia.
The Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2026 will feature two Vietnamese teams and eight international teams from China, Italy, Germany, Portugal, France, Japan, Macao (China) and Australia. Four of these teams will be participating in the festival for the first time, promising fresh highlights and surprises.
Based on Agoda’s comparison of accommodation bookings between January-November last year and the same period in 2024, Sapa climbed 15 places in the rankings of Asia’s top 100 destinations, making it the fastest-growing destination in the region.
Information consistency will help improve national tourism brand recognition among travellers, laying a stepping stone for positioning Vietnam as a green, safe and friendly destination, according to an insider.
According to Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Pham Duc An, the city prioritises building sustainable economic ecosystems and focuses on key breakthrough sectors with strong spillover effects, including high technology and digital transformation, logistics, urban infrastructure, finance, processing and manufacturing industries, high-tech agriculture, and the pharmaceutical and medicinal herb industry.
Resolution 79 is not only about SOEs. At a deeper level, it is about how Vietnam reorganises its development drivers in a world that is changing at breakneck speed.
In 2025, Vietnam’s GDP grew by 8%, beating UOB’s forecast of 7.7% but still falling short of the Government’s target of 8.3–8.5%, which would have needed an extraordinary boost in the final quarter.
According to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), more than 2 million international visitors arrived in December alone, up 15.7% year on year, pushing total arrivals for the year to a new high.
For many foreign diners, the charm of Hanoi’s street food lies in the seamless blend of tradition and modernity, where food is inseparable from the rhythm of daily life.
Tourism in the north-western province of Dien Bien is showing clear signs of revival in the opening days of 2026, reflecting efforts to realise the resolution of the 15th Provincial Party Congress, which identifies tourism as a spearhead economic sector.
In its future development strategy, Ninh Binh identifies tourism and cultural industries as spearhead economic sectors, aiming to develop them in a green, creative, and sustainable manner.
Tourism development is being steered towards a multi-product, multi-space model that closely links the city centre with riverside, coastal and ecological forest areas, within the broader vision of a post-merger mega-city.
If Vietnam wants to improve its standing, it must adopt a long-term, in-depth and flexible promotion strategy, especially as those on tourism brand and product development are set to expire by the end of this year.
Thousands of domestic and international tourists flocked to Vietnam’s top attractions during the New Year holiday from January 1 to 4, sparking optimism for significant growth in the country's travel industry in 2026.
Vietnam’s tourism sector recorded strong momentum during the New Year 2026 holiday from January 1–4, welcoming an estimated 3.5 million visitors nationwide.
The Mekong Delta locality has enhanced tourism promotion activities with an emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendliness, steadily building the brand of Vinh Long as a safe, hospitable, and high-quality destination.
During the days, the capital city served 110,000 foreign arrivals and 450,000 domestic tourists, up nearly 287% and over 240%, respectively. These figures reflect a strong recovery and robust growth right at the start of the year.
Dong Van is opening a new journey, where each scan by visitors is not only a marker on their travel map but also a stream of live data helping the highland region step into the era of smart tourism.
From December 31, 2025 to January 2, 2026, Quang Ninh welcomed around 530,000 visitors, including 44,400 foreign tourists. The number of overnight guests was estimated at 158,000, while total tourism revenue reached approximately 1.28 trillion VND (over 48.55 million USD).
Khanh Hoa targets 18.1 million overnight visitors and over 77 trillion VND in tourism revenue for 2026.
With its fresh climate, unspoiled landscapes, and well-preserved Muong ethnic heritage, Van Son is fast becoming a new promising tourist destination in Phu Tho.
Favourable weather on the first day of the New Year helped attract a large number of visitors to Hue via air, sea, road and rail. The Complex of Hue Monuments remained the city’s most popular attraction, with more than 8,700 tickets sold on January 1 alone, generating nearly 1.5 billion VND in revenue.
Lonely Planet suggested that to explore beyond Quy Nhon’s bounds, it'd better to "hop on a motorbike and wind your way to secluded coves and pristine beaches".
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Tourism hosted arrivals of the first international visitors at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, including those on Vietnam Airlines' VN30 from Germany and Qatar Airways' QR974 from Qatar.
The Hue Festival 2026 holds special significance as the city is boosting development based on the preservation and promotion of imperial heritage values, safeguarding cultural identity, and moving towards the status of a heritage – ecological – landscape, environmentally friendly and smart city.
On the morning of January 1, at the Huu Nghi International Border Gate, the Lang Son Centre for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion, in coordination with relevant agencies, held a ceremony to welcome the first foreign visitors to the province this year.
At the welcoming ceremony on January 1, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Quan Minh Cuong presented flowers and extended New Year greetings to the cruise passengers.
