The program is chaired by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in coordination with the Tourism Development Support Fund (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), Hue City People's Committee, a number of local management agencies, Vietnam national airlines, travel and tourism accommodation businesses.
Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh emphasized: The event is a vivid testament to the concern, commitment and joint efforts in enhancing tourism development cooperation between Vietnam and Switzerland - two countries with a long-standing friendship and many potential for mutual support.
According to Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Vietnam tourism has full potential to become a favorite destination for Swiss tourists on their journey to explore the world, contributing to further promoting the good relationship between the two countries.
One of the key contents that attracted great attention at the program was the introduction of Vietnam's new visa policy, creating more favorable conditions than ever for Swiss tourists. Specifically, according to the regulations effective from March 1 to December 31, 2025, Swiss citizens entering Vietnam under the tourism program of Vietnamese international travel agencies will be exempted from visas for up to 45 days.
This is an important step forward to attract more tourists from this market. At the same time, the Vietnamese tourism industry is actively proposing that in the coming time, Swiss citizens can travel independently to Vietnam without a visa, meeting the flexible travel trend of international tourists.
In 2024, Vietnam welcomed more than 33,600 Swiss visitors, a sharp increase compared to 28,000 in 2023 and approaching the pre-pandemic level in 2019 - more than 36,500 visitors. In the first 4 months of 2025, nearly 12,000 Swiss visitors traveled to Vietnam, an increase of more than 14% over the same period last year. These are very positive figures, demonstrating the strong recovery and sustainable development potential of the Swiss market for Vietnam tourism.
Currently, the General Department of the Swiss Confederation of Economics (SECO) is sponsoring the ODA project to not refund "Switzerland Tourism for Sustainable Development in Vietnam" (ST4SD), implemented by HELVETAS from 2024 to 2027 in Dong Thap, Quang Nam and Ha Giang provinces. This project has a very practical meaning, contributing to promoting sustainable tourism in localities with great potential but many challenges.
In the coming time, Vietnam wishes to continue expanding cooperation with Switzerland in areas such as training high-quality tourism human resources, developing green tourism products, community tourism, as well as organizing events to promote Vietnam tourism in Switzerland, to enhance Vietnam's presence on the tourism map of Swiss tourists.
At the program, Vietnam introduced to Swiss partners and tourists the destinations, cultural and culinary beauty of Vietnam.
In particular, the People's Committee of Hue City introduced the Hue National Tourism Year 2025 with the theme "Ancient Capital, New Luck" to a large number of delegates, partners, and Swiss businesses.
In addition to introducing destinations and policies, the event also creates space for business connection activities between tourism companies and hotels in Vietnam and Switzerland, opening up effective business cooperation opportunities.
Special cultural and culinary performances of Vietnam such as the Hue Royal Music Performance by artists of the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theater, the promotion of royal culinary art by Hue culinary artists with dishes such as spring rolls, phoenix sausage, inviting guests to exchange and make spring rolls, trying fried spring rolls and introducing the art of making lotus hats also enrich the experience for visitors in a prison imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity with all the senses to experience.
