Great Potential and Opportunities in Vietnam-China Tourism Cooperation

Vietnam and China are important strategic partners in tourism, with a growing number of visitors traveling between the two countries. Expanding visa policies, increasing direct flights and strengthening cooperation among travel agencies are creating great opportunities, enhancing service quality and driving bilateral economic growth.

Representatives of Vietnamese and Chinese travel businesses sign a cooperation agreement during the Hubei tourism promotion program for 2025  in Vietnam

Great room for development

Vietnam and China are currently key mutual tourism markets that have expanded strongly in recent years. The two-way tourism cooperation has been increasingly deepened, not only helping boost trade and investment but also highlighting the bilateral relationship. Currently, over 330 flights operate weekly between Vietnam and China, enhancing connectivity and facilitating travel between the two countries.

Mr. Ho An Phong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam, said that Vietnamese and Chinese cultural and tourism cooperation not only stems from objective needs but is also a top priority of the two Parties and the two States. Specifically, in October 2022, during the official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the two sides signed a cultural and tourism cooperation plan for the 2023-2027 period. Since then, tourism promotion has been carried out more strongly and effectively.

Tourism promotion programs between the two countries have been continuously expanded. The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) has sent many delegations to China and joined the China International Travel Mart (CITM), the China-ASEAN Travel Fair and promotional programs in Sichuan, Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai and other localities. In return, the Chinese side has also launched many promotional activities in Vietnam to attract Vietnamese tourists to prominent destinations such as Nanning, Zhangjiajie, Hainan and Hubei.

Cooperation has also been promoted through cross-border tourism programs. Notably, the golden tourism route “Two countries - Six destinations” (Kunming, Honghe, Sapa, Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ha Long) has become an exemplary tourism product that entices a large number of Vietnamese and Chinese tourists.

In 2024, Chinese visitors accounted for 24% of Vietnam's 17.5 million international arrivals

According to statistics, Chinese tourist arrivals to Vietnam exceed 5.8 million a year, reaffirming its top foreign tourist market status in Vietnam. Vietnam is also among the top five tourist markets of China. In 2023, Vietnam welcomed 1.75 million Chinese visitors, and in 2024, China accounted for 24% of the total 17.5 million international visitors to Vietnam. Notably, in January 2025, China returned to be the top foreign tourist market of Vietnam, with 575,000 tourists, accounting for 27.7% of total foreign arrivals, much higher than the same period in January 2019 (with 373,500 arrivals), an increase of 54%.

According to the VNAT, the strong recovery of the Chinese market is driven by extensive cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese authorities, businesses and localities. In November 2024, Vietnam hosted tourism promotion programs in Chongqing and Kunming to strengthen connectivity and attract more Chinese tourists to Vietnam.

Toward sustainable cooperation and long-term development

Although tourism cooperation has produced many achievements, there is still much untapped potential. The countries pledged to effectively implement the cultural and tourism cooperation plan for the 2023-2027 period, bolster policy exchanges, develop diverse tourism products and expand new flight routes between the two countries.

In addition to expanding traditional tourism products, the two countries need to focus on developing new tourism products to meet the changing needs of tourists. Mr. Pham Tien Dung, Vice President of the Hanoi UNESCO Travel Club and CEO of Golden Tour, emphasized that cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese travel businesses plays a key role.

"Developing specialized tours such as cultural, culinary or health tourism will help attract more Chinese tourists to Vietnam and vice versa. Besides, linking with airlines to provide all-inclusive tour packages at preferential prices is also an important solution to enhance the appeal of the two markets," he added.

Vietnam ranks among the top five destinations for Chinese tourists

In addition, according to many industry experts, to create momentum for sustainable development, it is necessary to focus on such factors as ensuring service quality, training high-quality tourism human resources and developing tourism infrastructure. Vietnamese and Chinese localities need to increase exchanges, share experiences and cooperate closely in developing regionally linked tourism products.

Specially, technological application in tourism needs to be boosted. Vietnamese businesses are looking for opportunities to expand into the Chinese market by establishing representative offices and cooperating with popular Chinese online tour booking platforms such as Ctrip or Fliggy. This is considered an important step to reach potential customers and improve Vietnamese tourism promotion in China.

In general, given the achievements and future cooperation outlook, tourism continues to play an important role in connecting the culture and economy of Vietnam and China. Fostering consistent solutions from policy to practice will contribute to improving cooperation quality and creating a premise for the sustainable tourism development in the region.

By Giang Tu, Vietnam Business Forum