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The event brought together more than 20 representatives from local tourism promotion agencies and leading Korean travel companies, along with over 100 entities from Vietnam, including tourism businesses, airlines, media outlets, and tourism associations. Korea Travel Mart 2025 promises to be an important bridge, opening up many opportunities for strategic cooperation between the tourism industries of the two countries.
2024 marked a significant milestone as the number of two-way tourists between Vietnam and South Korea exceeded 5 million for the first time – a major step forward in bilateral cooperation. Specifically, the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting South Korea reached over 511,000, while the number of South Korean tourists visiting Vietnam exceeded 4.6 million. In the first four months of 2025, South Korea welcomed 183,000 Vietnamese tourists, representing a 12.4% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The “Korea Travel Mart 2025” event will take place on May 15, 2025 in Hanoi.
In particular, the number of MICE (incentive, incentives, and conferences) tourists from Vietnam to South Korea, supported by KTO, is expected to reach nearly 54,000 in 2024, a 32.2% increase compared to 2023. This places Vietnam second in Southeast Asia in terms of the number of MICE tourists visiting South Korea, after the Philippines. Not only has the number increased, but the size of MICE groups is also incredibly impressive. Of the nearly 500 MICE groups supported by KTO in 2024, more than 20 groups came from large Vietnamese businesses, each with over 500 participants. This demonstrates the high level of trust and satisfaction from Vietnamese businesses and affirms South Korea's enduring appeal as an ideal destination for the international MICE market.
These impressive figures not only reflect a positive growth trend but also lay a solid foundation for expanding bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector. In this context, Korea Travel Mart 2025 is organized as a strategic event, aiming to concretize potential cooperation opportunities between the two countries through practical and in-depth activities.
The event was attended by more than 20 organizations from South Korea, including local tourism promotion agencies such as Jeju and Gyeonggi; representatives of leading Korean tourist destinations; and typical Korean tourism partner companies, creating opportunities for exchange, discussion, and exploration of future business cooperation. Attending from Vietnam were representatives from state management agencies, tourism associations, airlines, the press, and especially more than 50 Vietnamese travel companies. During the program, KTO introduced new Korean tourist destinations, special support policies for 2025, and presented the unique art performance "The Painters" by artists from South Korea.
Korea Travel Mart 2025 is organized as a strategic event, aiming to concretize potential cooperation opportunities between the two countries through practical and in-depth activities.
Following the success of Korea Travel Mart 2025, KTO will continue to promote diverse activities, most notably this year's Korea Travel Festa 2025, the largest B2C event of the year, taking place in Ho Chi Minh City on June 21-22, 2025, expected to attract over 30,000 visitors. In addition, KTO will also participate in the Ho Chi Minh City International Tourism Fair (ITE 2025) from September 4-6, 2025 with many attractive activities aimed at deeply connecting with the Vietnamese tourism market.
“We believe that Korea Travel Mart 2025 will be a practical bridge to strengthen connections between Vietnamese and Korean tourism businesses. The event not only opens up opportunities for strategic cooperation but also demonstrates KTO’s commitment to supporting and accompanying the Vietnamese market – one of the most important and promising markets in Southeast Asia. With attractive support policies and the continuous updating of new tourism products that suit the needs and trends of Vietnamese tourists, we expect to continue to strongly promote bilateral tourism exchanges in the future,” said Ms. Park Eun Jung, Chief Representative of the Korea Tourism Organization in Vietnam.
