Global tourism slows down
According to the latest report from the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), about 690 million international visitors made trips in the first 6 months of 2026, an increase of only 0.4% compared to the same period last year. In the second quarter alone, the number of international visitors globally decreased by 1% and in June decreased by 3%.
The modest growth is taking place in the context of geopolitical instability, rising oil prices, travel costs and extreme weather continuing to affect travel demand. Western Europe decreased by 6%, while the Middle East decreased by 22% due to direct impacts from regional conflicts.
In Asia-Pacific, the number of international visitors only increased by 0.7% in the first 6 months of the year, much lower than the increase of 7.6% in 2025. The total number of visitors to the region is still 11% lower than the same period in 2019. Southeast Asia also recorded a decrease of 1%, showing that the recovery process is taking place unevenly.
Faced with this development, UN Tourism lowered its global international visitor growth forecast for 2026 to 1%-2%, instead of the 3%-4% level set in January. The outlook for the last months of the year is assessed to be heavily dependent on conflict, oil prices and inflation.
On the other hand, in the context of increasing travel costs, tourists tend to prioritize destinations with good value, reasonable costs and closer travel distances.
Vietnam still grows well thanks to the attractiveness of destinations and expanding markets
Amidst the downward trend, Vietnam is going in the opposite direction. In the first 6 months of 2026, Vietnam welcomed 12.3 million international visitors, an increase of 14.9% compared to the same period in 2025. After 8 months, the figure reached nearly 15.9 million visitors, an increase of 14.4%, the highest level in the same period for many years.
The growth gap is noteworthy when global international visitors increased by only 0.4%, Asia-Pacific increased by 0.7%, Southeast Asia decreased by 1%, while Vietnam increased by 14.4% after 8 months.
In 8 months, European visitors reached 2.7 million, up 53.4%; American visitors increased by 20.7% and Australians increased by 23.3%. Southeast Asian markets such as the Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia all recorded significant increases.
Vietnam's attractiveness is supported by a more favorable visa policy, promoted promotion activities, expanded international air route networks and increasingly diverse tourism products. The National Statistics Office also assesses that advantages in natural landscapes, cultural heritage, cuisine and competitive travel costs are helping Vietnam maintain its attractiveness to international visitors.
Notably, the trend of international visitors prioritizing nearby, convenient and valuable destinations in the context of increasing travel costs also creates an advantage for Vietnam.
Visa's Global Travel Intentions 2026 study shows that Asia-Pacific tourists tend to choose nearby, familiar, convenient and easily accessible destinations. Accordingly, the trend of increasing short trips in the region is creating more advantages for Vietnamese tourism.
Not only increasing in quantity, Vietnam's visitor market is also expanding. Europe is currently the fastest growing region, with Russian visitors reaching about 1 million, an increase of 165.7%; visitors from Poland increasing by 51.2%.
The German, French and British markets also continue to increase. This helps Vietnam reduce dependence on a few traditional markets and open up more room for growth in long-distance passenger groups.
This result is even more noteworthy when placed in the context of global tourism slowing down. Vietnam is having an advantage from the combination of favorable access policies, market expansion capacity, diverse products and advantages in natural resources, culture, cuisine and competitive costs. These are factors that help destinations maintain their attractiveness when global tourists are increasingly considering the cost and value received more carefully.
After 8 months, Vietnam has achieved about 64% of the target of welcoming 25 million international visitors in 2026. The last four months of the year need about 9 million more visitors, while this is also the peak season for international visitors.
With the current growth momentum, the future of completing, even exceeding the 2026 target threshold is not far away.
