Vietnam among top five favorite destinations for US tourists

According to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), the US newspaper BusinessInsider has just published an article by American tourist Latifah Al-Hazza, who has traveled to 80 countries of which she ranked Vietnam 5th in the list of 50 most favorite destinations.

American tourists in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: Nhat Thinh

The list of 50 most favorite destinations includes a series of dream destinations of any tourist, such as the UK, Canada, the US, China, Singapore, Egypt, France, Switzerland, among many others. The countries are all highly ranked in the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Travel and Tourism Development Index.

Accordingly, Vietnam is ranked above many other famous tourist destinations in Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand, Georgia, Oman, India, Uzbekistan, etc. Vietnam is at the 5^th place, also the only Asian country in the top 5 of the list, including Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Spain at number 1.

There are also many other Asian countries in the list. Specifically, she ranked China at 42^nd, Singapore at 36^th, Malaysia 32^nd, India 26^th, and Indonesia 8^th.

For the past many years, the VNAT said that the US market has continuously been in the list of Vietnam’s leading source of tourists. In 2023, Vietnam welcomed more than 717,000 US visitors, a recovery of 96 percent compared to 2019, the time before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first 11 months of this year, the US continued to be among the 10 largest markets for Vietnamese tourism with more than 706,000 US visitors.

The above data show that Vietnam has been drawing the attention of the US tourists, and ranks second only to Japan in Asia in terms of attractiveness. In 2019, the US Tour Operators Association (USTOA) also rated Vietnam as one of the 10 most attractive destinations in the world. Notably, in 2016, five famous places in Vietnam were chosen as filming locations for the American blockbuster Kong Skull Island, through which Vietnam’s scenic spots have been widely promoted and highly appreciated internationally. To continue exploiting the US tourist market, recently, for the first time, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized a completely special tourism promotion program in the US with the theme “Vietnam - New Destination for Global Cinema.” The program was organized to introduce and promote tourist destinations, potential filming locations, attract Hollywood film studios to Vietnam, create international media effects, and attract tourists to Vietnam.

So far, thanks to closer links in the fields of diplomacy and economy between Vietnam and the US, tourism cooperation and tourist exchange between the two countries are considered to have many development opportunities. Therefore, Vietnam is targeting to welcome 1 million US tourists in the near future.