Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho An Phong recently signed Decision No. 2338/QD-BVHTTDL, issuing a tourism development scenario linked to Vietnam’s “double-digit” GDP growth target. The move cemented tasks and measures to accelerate tourism growth in the closing months of 2026 while laying the groundwork for the sector’s development from 2027 to 2030.
In the immediate term, the tourism development scenario targets welcoming around 25-27 million international visitors this year and catering to 150-153 million domestic travelers. Total tourism revenue is anticipated at around VND1,125-1,230 trillion ($43.3-47.5 billion), contributing to the national goal of GDP growth of at least 10 per cent.
Target markets
To reach these goals, China has been identified as a key market requiring stronger development, while existing growth from South Korea and India must be maintained. The plan also calls for stronger efforts to develop the Russian market, sustain growth from Western Europe and North America, and capitalize on Southeast Asian markets through air, road, and maritime connectivity.
Maintaining visitor flows during international low seasons is also becoming increasingly important. Without addressing seasonality, sharp increases in visitor numbers during certain periods may still prove difficult to translate into sustainable economic benefits for businesses and destinations.
Looking further ahead, the tourism sector is targeting 45-50 million international arrivals and around 160 million domestic tourist trips during 2027-2030. Total tourism revenue is expected to reach $80-90 billion, with tourism directly contributing 13-14 per cent of GDP.
Priority products will include domestic tourism, short trips, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) offerings, high-end resorts, wellness destinations, local cultural experiences, and night-time tourism. Promotional efforts will focus on major international tourism fairs and markets with high-value potential.
The scenario places greater emphasis on increasing average visitor spending, extending stays, and raising the share of international visitors who return to Vietnam. This shows that the “double-digit” target is not simply a race to increase visitor numbers. The value each tourist generates for the economy, communities, and businesses is becoming a more important measure of growth quality.
At the same time, this is more than a change in how tourism indicators are measured. From a cultural perspective, it represents a shift in how the nature of tourism itself is understood.
Tourism is not simply about moving people from one place to another, nor is it merely about selling hotel rooms, airline tickets, or sightseeing tours. At a deeper level, tourism is a process of exchanging cultural values, creating experiences, and connecting people with a destination.
In other words, cultural value must be “awakened” to generate economic value, while commercialization must go hand-in-hand with conservation. This is a balance Vietnam’s tourism sector will need to pay particular attention to in its next phase of development.
Building a multi-layered ecosystem
Assigning tasks to ministries, sectors, and localities, the government’s action program implementing Politburo Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW emphasizes prioritizing markets with high spending power, longer stays, and year-round travel demand.
Priority product groups include cultural tourism linked to cultural industries; national symbolic products; large-scale service complexes; culturally- and tourism-focused value chains with international competitiveness; island and coastal resorts; river and coastal waterway tourism; and high-quality medical and wellness tourism.
Politburo Resolution No. 26 establishes a new position for Vietnamese tourism as a fresh driver of national growth. This reflects a shift in management thinking in line with global trends, moving beyond the view of tourism as simply a service sector toward an intelligent economic ecosystem integrating multiple layers of value. Culture and national identity form the foundation of its competitive advantage.
At the recent “Riding the Wave to Wellness” workshop, organized by Tap chi Kinh te Viet Nam / Vietnam Economic Times / VnEconomy, Dr. Pham Hoang Manh Ha from the Faculty of Tourism at Hong Duc University in north-central Thanh Hoa province, said Vietnam had demonstrated its ability to attract large numbers of visitors. The next step, he continued, is to create more reasons for tourists to stay longer and spend more on meaningful experiences.
Higher visitor spending can generate better jobs, strengthen local businesses, and deliver greater benefits to communities, while also supporting cultural and environmental conservation. “A tourist staying seven nights instead of three does not only generate additional revenue for the hotel,” he explained. “They also spend more on restaurants, wellness services, transportation, excursions, shopping, and local experiences. Wellness tourism based on traditional medicine can also create additional livelihoods for communities and encourage the development of medicinal herb-growing areas. This allows the economic impact to spread far beyond the boundaries of a single business or accommodation facility.”
“Amid the current trend toward slow and high-quality tourism, incorporating wellness into the travel journey is inevitable,” said Dr. Nguyen Thuy, Operations Manager at the Bach Thao Ngu Y Institute of Research and Development. “In line with the government’s direction for the sector as a whole, resort tourism also needs to innovate to offer more memorable experiences and increase value. Integrating wellness and resort tourism is a promising direction that aligns well with Vietnam’s strengths.”
The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) estimates that wellness tourism grew at an annual rate of 21 per cent between 2020 and 2025, outpacing all other segments of the broader wellness industry. If the segment maintains an average annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent, it could account for 18 per cent of global tourism. On average, $1 out of every $6 spent on tourism worldwide goes to the wellness market.
As the middle class and affluent population continue to grow, demand for wellness tourism services is also expected to expand. The Institute for Regional Sustainable Development has assessed that this form of tourism can minimize negative environmental impacts, support local ecosystems, provide locally-sourced food, and promote and preserve traditional cultural values. Vietnam’s tourism sector therefore needs to respond quickly to this trend to increase value while supporting sustainable development.
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