HANOI, 14 January 2025: More flight connections, open visa policies and tourism promotions helped to push Vietnam’s international visitor arrivals to more than 17.5 million in 2024, up by 39.5% compared with 2023.
In 2024, international visitor arrivals by air were more than 14.8 million, accounting for 84.4%. Overland arrivals reached: 2.5 million (14.2%) and by sea 248,000 (1.4%).
By region, international visitors to Vietnam from Asia accounted for 79.6%. Europe: 11.3%, Americas: 5.7%, Oceania: 3,1%, Africa: 0.3%.
Top 10 source markets
South Korea remained the biggest source market in 2024, with 4.5 million arrivals (26%). China ranked second with 3.7 million (21.3%).
Among the top 10 markets were the USA (780,000 arrivals), Japan (711,000), India (501,000), Malaysia (495,000), Australia (491,000), Cambodia (475,000) and Thailand (418,000).
Notably, India’s outbound market recorded significant growth in the last few years, from 138,000 arrivals in 2022 to 392,000 arrivals in 2023 and 501,000 arrivals in 2024, an increase of 2.6 times in just two years.
Key growth drivers
Big markets in Northeast Asia were key drivers of international visitor growth in 2024. In particular, the Chinese market increased by 214.4% compared to 2023, followed by South Korea (+27.1%), Japan (+20.7%), Taiwan (+51.4%). Nearby markets in Southeast Asia grew well, including Indonesia (+74.7%), the Philippines (+73.6%), Laos (+23.3%), Cambodia (+18.0%), Malaysia (+5.4%), Singapore (+5.9%). The Thai market decreased by 14.5%.
Positive growth was also seen in European markets, such as the UK (+20.8%), France (+29.4%), Germany (+24.5%), Italy (+55.8%), Spain (+20.1%), Russia (+84.9%), Denmark (+22,1%), Norway (+23.0%), Sweden (+33.0%). These markets enjoy an open visa policy effective from 15 August 2023, which allows citizens to stay in Vietnam temporarily for up to 45 days.
Recovery compared to 2019
By region, the Oceania market exceeded 2019 levels (125%), Americas: 103%. Asia returned to 97% of pre-pandemic levels, while Europe recovered 92%.
The recovery of Asian source markets was mainly attributed to positive results in specific markets. They included South Korea (106%), Taiwan (139%), as well as the robust performance of India (297%), Cambodia (208%), Indonesia (173%), Laos (151%), Philippines (148%), Singapore (112%).
However, the performance slowed in some traditional markets such as China (64%), Japan (75%), Thailand and Malaysia (82%).
Some of the strongest performers from Europe were Spain (+109%) and Italy (126%), while the UK and France recorded 97%.
(Source: Tourism Information Technology Centre).
