Despite a surge in international visitors, Vietnam's tourism industry still faces the "low-value trap".

The Outbox Company, a pioneer in market research and analytics of traveler behavior in the tourism and hospitality industry in Asia, officially launched its report, Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026: From Recovery to Resilience.

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Through in-depth analysis of domestic and international markets, combined with proprietary data and indicators from the Outbox Intelligence system, the Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 report provides a comprehensive overview of Vietnam's tourism industry performance in 2025, while identifying key strategic priorities to maintain and enhance Vietnam's competitiveness as a destination in 2026 and beyond.

According to the report, 2025 marks the completion of the tourism industry's recovery, with Vietnam welcoming over 21 million international visitors, nearly 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels. However, amidst geopolitical instability, currency fluctuations, and increasing regional competition, this recovery also highlights the limitations and potential risks of the current growth model, thus highlighting the urgent need for a more sustainable approach in the medium and long term for Vietnam's tourism industry. Specifically:

Growth has largely remained within the “comfort zone” of traditional Northeast Asian markets:The structure of the international tourist market continues to show a high degree of dependence, remaining almost unchanged from the pre-pandemic period. The top five markets, including China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, consistently account for approximately 55% of total visitors. Of these, the reopening of the Chinese market continues to be the biggest growth driver, with 5.3 million visitors, a 41.3% increase year-on-year, contributing the largest absolute increase to the entire industry. This structure helps accelerate short-term recovery but simultaneously increases the industry's vulnerability to shocks related to exchange rates, visa policies, and geopolitics.

The number of visitors has increased significantly, but the value generated has not kept pace:In 2025, total tourism revenue is projected to reach approximately US$39 billion, a 27% increase compared to 2019. However, during the 2024-2025 period, revenue growth will primarily be driven by a rapid increase in international visitor numbers, while the value generated per visitor tends to decline. This indicates that Vietnam remains a high-traffic but low-value destination, posing challenges to its self-pricing capacity and economic efficiency in the next growth phase.

Domestic tourism – a stable but strategically underdeveloped pillar:Even amidst record-high international visitor numbers, domestic tourism is expected to contribute approximately US$17–20 billion, equivalent to 43–51% of the industry's total revenue in 2025, affirming its role as a stable and reliable revenue source for Vietnam's tourism sector. In the post-recovery phase, domestic tourism should be fully utilized as a strategic space to experiment with product upgrades, improve experiences, and restructure pricing models, thereby laying the groundwork for sustainable value growth across the entire industry.

Vietnam's destination brand - Widely known, but lacking depth:Vietnam's tourism destination brand strength index in 2025 reached 128.1, higher than the neutral threshold but still lower than the regional average (147.4). Indicators of familiarity (160.8) and overall attractiveness (179.3) were high, but indicators reflecting brand depth – such as understanding and intention to visit – were relatively lower, suggesting that tourists are aware of Vietnam but do not yet fully understand or perceive the differences strongly enough to create a lasting connection. This is further evidenced by the Net Promoter Score (NPS) of only 24.2.

In the coming period, improving the quality of the experience, safety levels, and consistency throughout the entire tourist journey will be key conditions for Vietnam's destination brand to not only expand in scale but also increase its influence and long-term valuation capabilities.

Commenting on the report's findings, Mr. Dang Manh Phuoc, CEO & Co-Founder of The Outbox Company, shared: "In 2026, statistics on the number of tourists will no longer be sufficient to assess the success of the tourism industry. The central issue now is not what needs to be done to attract more tourists, but how to reduce the risks from market dependence, increase the value per visitor, and build a strong destination brand to create long-term value."

The Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 report is designed to support regulatory bodies, businesses, and stakeholders in understanding the true nature of the market, thereby gradually shifting their mindset from short-term growth targets to more proactive, selective, and sustainable growth management.

Vietnam Travel Landscape is an annual research publication by The Outbox Company, providing a comprehensive and systematic overview of the developments and trends in Vietnam's tourism industry. The 2026 edition focuses on clarifying the transition from recovery to building long-term resilience, through an analysis of market structure, destination brand strength, and tourist behavior in the context of increasing geopolitical instability and currency volatility. This highlights the necessary conditions for shifting from quantitative growth to sustainable value-based growth.

This report is built on Outbox's proprietary data and index system, combining market trend analysis and regional benchmarking, to support policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders in managing growth and enhancing the long-term competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism.