Tourism grows, many cultural fields achieve positive results
At the regular Q2 press conference held on July 15, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) said that in the first 6 months of 2026, the culture, sports and tourism sector achieved many positive results in various fields, from perfecting institutions, preserving heritage to developing tourism and managing press and media.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the work of perfecting institutions continues to be a highlight when the National Assembly passed Resolution No. 28/2026/QH16 on the development of Vietnamese culture, creating a basis for institutionalizing Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW of the Politburo. By the end of June 2026, the Ministry had submitted to competent authorities to issue 26 documents and issued 18 circulars according to its authority.
In the field of culture and heritage, the Ministry has submitted to the Prime Minister to rank 2 special national relics; recognized 30 artifacts and groups of artifacts as national treasures; ranked 9 national relics and listed 12 intangible cultural heritages in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Village of Culture and Tourism of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups also completed the transfer to the Hanoi People's Committee for management and welcomed about 280,000 visitors in the first half of the year.
Cultural, artistic and festival activities are organized safely and in accordance with the direction. The Ministry has also issued nearly 6,000 certificates of copyright and related rights registration.
Tourism continues to be a bright spot of the entire industry with about 12.3 million international visitors, an increase of 15% compared to the same period last year; 81 million domestic visitors, an increase of 4.5%; total revenue from tourism is estimated at 569 trillion VND, an increase of 9.8%.
In the field of journalism, media and electronic information, the Ministry continues to strengthen management in the digital environment by coordinating with Apple and Google to remove more than 1,125 violating video games on application stores, reaching a 100% handling rate; and at the same time revoking 90 decisions approving content, scripts or decisions to publish G1 video games online.
Developing the cultural industry and digital transformation is the focus of the last 6 months of the year
Based on the achieved results, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism determined that in the last 6 months of the year, it will focus on developing the cultural industry, promoting digital transformation and mobilizing resources to create new momentum for the industry's growth.
Accordingly, the Ministry will build a national database on culture, infrastructure development and digital data, and prioritize technology platforms to serve management, tourism development and cultural industry.
Answering questions about developing the cultural industry and protecting sovereignty in the digital space, Mr. Cao Le Tuan Anh - Chief of Office of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - emphasized: "Each cadre, civil servant of the Culture sector, each journalist, reporter and more broadly, each party member, citizen of Vietnam when participating in cyberspace needs to become a "sovereignty milestone" in the digital environment, contributing to spreading cultural values, protecting national identity and national sovereignty".
In the field of culture, the Ministry will continue to complete the dossier "Mo Muong" to submit to UNESCO for consideration and listing in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection; complete the dossiers "Pho Hien Stele" and "Ma nhai on Non Nuoc Mountain, Ninh Binh province" to submit for listing in the Asia-Pacific Regional Documentary Heritage List.
Regarding tourism, the Ministry will continue to promote and advertise Vietnam's image abroad; develop health care tourism, tourism associated with OCOP products; and at the same time study and amend the 2017 Tourism Law and adjust tourism development plans and strategies to suit new requirements.
In addition, many projects to develop the digital content industry and events such as Vietnam Happy Fest, Vietnam iContent 2026, and the announcement of the 2026 Press Digital Transformation Picture will be implemented to promote digital transformation and the development of the cultural industry.
