According to data from the Statistics Office, in the first 9 months of 2025, Vietnam welcomed about 15.4 million international visitors, an increase of 21.5% compared to 2024.
However, this figure is still quite far away from the target of reaching about 25 million visitors set in early 2025.
Sharing about this issue at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the afternoon of October 10, Mr. Pham Van Thuy - Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said: "To ensure both economic and social development through tourism development and national security and social order and safety, the target of 25 million international visitors is a huge challenge for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in particular".
According to Mr. Thuy, to achieve the goal of welcoming 25 million international visitors in 2025, the time for the Vietnamese tourism industry to accelerate and make a breakthrough is still very short.
However, the peak time to welcome international visitors in our country is from October to April of the following year. Therefore, the tourism industry must propose key solutions to develop tourism and attract international visitors in the last 3 months of the year, including 4 main solutions.
The first is to build specific products, affirming the issue through businesses to link and create products. Not only existing products, but must be products that tourists need.
Second, it is necessary to guide and link businesses together to create a complete product, from welcoming guests, serving guests, bringing guests to shopping, dining, resorts, accommodation areas... in a closed cycle.
Third, it is necessary to promote and advertise domestic and foreign tourism. The unique products and strengths of Vietnam's tourism need to be introduced to international friends, so that travel businesses have the opportunity to exchange visitors with foreign markets. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure factors to make it convenient and safe for foreign tourists to come to Vietnam.
"In the end, visa policy is a golden opportunity for tourism development. We must seize this golden opportunity to create a position for Vietnam's tourism in the international market," Mr. Thuy emphasized.
Regarding the visa mechanism, Mr. Thuy said that the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism have closely coordinated to have a roadmap to gradually extend and expand visas to other countries, in order to promote tourists to Vietnam.
Regarding digital transformation, Mr. Thuy affirmed that three years ago, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism implemented the digital transformation policy issued by the Government.
In recent times, in close coordination with the Digital Transformation Center of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Department has completed three tourism business platforms, which will soon be issued. At the same time, the Department disseminates and guides businesses on tourism business on these platforms.
"We also work with the Ministry's competent authorities to register and build a Vietnam National Tourism Platform in 2026 and gradually deploy it in 2027", Mr. Thuy shared.
