Making Vietnam the focus of global culture
In the global soft power race, the national image is not just a geographical business card but has become a strategic asset. With the Communication Strategy to promote Vietnam's image abroad for the period 2026 - 2030, with a vision to 2045, Vietnam is carrying out a revolution in communication thinking: Moving from promoting what is available to building a national brand with rich identity. In which, tourism is placed in the "point" position as a cultural ambassador, carrying a message about a developed, humane, creative, responsible and reliable Vietnam. However, the gap between potential and recognition is still a big problem.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education, commented: "We have advantages in political stability, geo-economic position, young population, unique culture, but those advantages have not been fully transformed into a clear identification attraction in the minds of the global public." Reality shows that in the race to attract international forces, the national image plays the role of the first emotion. This expert emphasized: "If that emotion is reliable, open, creative and humane, then capital flows, customer flows and intellectual flows will tend to come. Conversely, if the image is blurred and lacks personality, then even with many preferential policies, we will still face disadvantages.
According to him, the biggest change Vietnam needs in thinking is to shift from promoting each field to building a national brand as an overall value system. Not only introducing "What Vietnam has", but also clarifying "Who is Vietnam" in today's world - a dynamically developing country, rich in identity, reliable and ready to accompany major human trends. That is the way to elevate soft competitiveness in the new stage.
Indeed, in the context of increasingly fierce global destination competition, the image of a country cannot only be built with dry growth figures. The new strategy defines the goal that by 2045, Vietnam must be in the Top 30 in the world in terms of the National Soft Power Index. To achieve this, the first and most important step is to strongly innovate communication thinking: Switching from one-way propaganda to building a brand based on understanding and inspiration.
To answer the question "Who is Vietnam?", the tourism and cultural industries must establish a roadmap to unify the message. No longer the situation of "everyone says their own thing", all activities from cultural weeks to investment forums must be scrutinized in a common identity. This unity not only helps eliminate overlapping images but also creates a harmonious harmony about a vibrant destination, where the thousand-year-old heritage resonates with contemporary creativity.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son emphasized that there must be a sufficiently strong coordination mechanism, inter-sectoral, with common data and the right to orient. If there is no "conductor" of sufficient stature to connect the "orchess" of ministries, branches, and localities, it is very difficult to create a unified harmony. Therefore, solving this bottleneck is not only a matter of expertise, but also of organization and coordination discipline throughout the system.
Joint action
If the national strategy is a brand design, tourism is the industry that brings that design to the market fastest and most directly. The communication strategy to promote Vietnam's image abroad sets an ambitious goal: Welcoming 70 million international visitors per year by 2045. This is not just an economic figure, but a measure of the level of recognition and sympathy of the world for Vietnam. To realize this requirement with the first steps, the tourism industry has soon concretized it with a comprehensive campaign. The National Authority of Tourism of Vietnam has officially announced the Vietnam tourism promotion and advertising programs for 2026. The core message of tourism promotion and advertising in 2026 is "Cooperation - Breakthrough", with domestic and foreign promotion activities of localities and businesses.
Besides traditional methods, the digital ecosystem is becoming an extended arm to tell the story of Vietnam in the vast cyberspace. Mr. Hoang Quoc Hoa, Director of the Tourism Information Center (Vietnam National Authority of Tourism), informed that the Department has focused on building and developing many digital platforms such as "Vietnam Travel" and applications for management and tourism business. In particular, promoting cooperation with large technology corporations such as Google, YouTube and popular social networks is helping to convey the message of a dynamic Vietnam to the right target markets.
