In the first 11 months of 2025, Hanoi welcomed 30.94 million tourists, an increase of 22.1% over the same period last year; including 7.09 million international visitors and 23.84 million domestic visitors. Revenue from tourists reached about VND 120.6 trillion, up 20.7% over the same period last year.
These impressive figures show that tourism in the capital has recovered and developed strongly. In particular, communication - marketing strategy contributes significantly to creating the Hanoi tourism brand in the new period.
Hanoi is the focus on the tourism map
According to Mr. Tran Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, the capital's tourism industry has stepped up propaganda of tourism activities and promoted the city's image.
The most prominent activities in November are the 2025 Hanoi Ao Dai Tourism Festival and the 3rd Hanoi Autumn Festival, with many Ao Dai performance programs, parades, City Bus experiences... The Hanoi Autumn Festival takes place at Tran Nhan Tong walking street and Thong Nhat Park, creating great attraction when attracting more than 50,000 visitors.
At the same time, the Department promotes other cultural and tourism events of the City such as the Thang Long - Hanoi Festival, Kanagawa Festival, while promoting tourism development cooperation with localities such as Vinh Long and Lai Chau, expanding tours for international visitors.
The work of introducing new tourism products, experiencing ethnic culture, night tours, "Museo Night" programs, Ba Vi flower season, flower routes and attractive check-in spots are also focused on, contributing to diversifying products and enhancing the attraction of Hanoi destinations.
To keep up with the digital media trend, Hanoi is showing a clear shift in the way tourism is promoted. According to media expert Nguyen Ngoc Long, the biggest bright spot is that Hanoi has built a consistent "destination story": a city of culture, experience and events. From promotional videos, articles, images to activities on social networks all follow that spirit, helping the image of the capital appear clearly, attractive and easy to remember.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Bui Thanh Tu - Marketing Director of Best Price travel company said: "In recent times, Hanoi has been doing a good job of leading tourists from "adventure" to "edesigning experiences with expertise". Hanoi has a thousand years of culture with a long history and unique cultural, culinary and human beauty. What needs to be done is how to introduce those cultural stories to attract domestic and international tourists".
According to experts, the use of social networks, short videos, combined with KOLs or content creators in the tourism - culinary field brings strong influence. The realistic and experienced content has made Hanoi a regularly mentioned destination on digital platforms, especially among young people and the international tourist market.
Not only investing in domestic media, Hanoi also expands promotion in key markets, participating in international tourism fairs, organizing famtrip, presstrip... helping the image of the capital appear regularly and creating attraction for international travel agencies.
This explains why Hanoi regularly appears in the international press in 2025 - a frequency that is superior to the previous period.
Promoting a chain of "touch points" to retain tourists
In parallel with multi-platform promotional campaigns, Hanoi has promoted a series of seasonal events to create more practical touch points for tourists.
Along with the media, the series of cultural - artistic - entertainment events is considered a "magnet" to attract visitors to Hanoi in the past year. From seasonal festivals, music events, concerts, films, culinary festivals to night activities, walking streets, heritage tours... all create a series of consecutive events, helping Hanoi always have something new for visitors to explore.
Expert Nguyen Ngoc Long believes that the greatest value of these events lies in creating a continuous "communication touchpoint": "When each month there is an outstanding activity, communication is always vibrant and tourists always have a reason to return to Hanoi.
At the same time, the event also helps travel businesses easily build products, sell tours, stimulate accommodation needs and ancillary services.
On the other hand, travel businesses are also actively building and innovating products. Hanoi has put the image of the destination on international media platforms, focusing on heritage and urban living style. The intuitive and consistent approach helps the city stand out more on the regional tourism map.
Tourism experiences in the capital, delicious dishes, standard restaurants, high-end hotels... were also honored by prestigious travel magazines and award ceremonies. This contributes to promoting Hanoi tourism, which is increasingly developing, enhancing the tourism position of the capital in the region, Mr. Tu emphasized.
This year, the image of the capital also appeared on prestigious channels such as the New York Times, Fodors, and was included in the list of 20 friendliest cities in the world.
To improve promotional efficiency, this travel expert recommends that Hanoi should announce event schedules at least 2-3 months early, giving businesses time to prepare. Each event needs to have its own mark, from image, theme to accompanying experience products, aiming to form a branded annual event system, similar to what major tourist cities in the region such as Seoul or Singapore are doing.
In the long term, Hanoi needs to increase the introduction of new products, diversify the forms of cultural - culinary - craft village experiences, and apply digital technology in promotion and in tourist experiences.
In addition, promoting marketing, communication, and digital media application in tourism promotion activities is an indispensable factor for Hanoi's tourism industry to break through in 2026.
