Travel to Vietnam Is More Popular in China Than Ever

“Vietnam is what Thailand used to be, affordable, beautiful, and not yet ruined.” That sentence circulates regularly on Chinese travel forums, and it explains a lot about why Chinese arrivals to Vietnam hit record highs in 2025 while Thailand was losing ground. In 2025, Vietnam welcomed 5.28 million Chinese tourists, up 41% year-on-year, making China the country’s largest international tourism source market. In early 2026, China has reclaimed the top spot with 1.4 million visitors in Q1 alone.

Vietnam benefits from proximity, familiar food, a strong “value for money” reputation among Chinese travelers, and an absence of the safety concerns that hurt Thailand in 2025. It is not a neutral beneficiary. Vietnam has actively worked to attract Chinese visitors and now sees the results.

The numbers

• Vietnam received a record 21.2 million international visitors in 2025. Chinese tourists accounted for 5.28 million, roughly 25% of all arrivals, up 41% year-on-year.
• In Q1 2026, China sent 1.4 million visitors to Vietnam, reclaiming the No. 1 source market position.
• Vietnam hit 10.6 million international visitors in the first five months of 2026, the highest January-May total ever recorded.
• From southern China, Vietnam is a 1.5 to 2 hour flight. From Kunming or Nanning, it can be faster than flying to another Chinese city.
• Da Nang alone expects over 565,000 Chinese tourists in 2025, up approximately 48% year-on-year. Projections for 2026 show continued growth.
• Vietnam targets 25 million total international visitors and 150 million domestic trips by end of 2026.

Latest: what is happening right now

• June 2026, DTI News: Vietnam surpassed 10.6 million international arrivals in the first five months of 2026, the highest ever recorded for that period. China continues to lead as the top source market, with arrivals growing alongside South Korea, Russia, and India.
• January 2026, AGB / Focus on Travel News: Chinese tourists dominated Vietnam’s international arrivals in 2025, accounting for 25% of the record 21.2 million total visitors. China overtook South Korea as Vietnam’s No. 1 source market, a position it maintained into Q1 2026.

What Chinese tourists think about Vietnam

On Xiaohongshu and Douyin, Vietnam content has been rising steadily since 2023 and accelerated sharply in 2025. Da Nang and Hoi An are among the fastest-growing cities in terms of new Chinese user-generated content. The content categories that perform best: beach photography (Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Nang), Vietnamese street food, particularly pho and banh mi tours, Halong Bay boat trips, and luxury resort stays at prices Chinese travelers describe as “half of what Bali costs for double the quality.”

What they love: the price-to-quality ratio is the most consistent theme in Chinese travel content about Vietnam. A beachfront hotel that would cost USD 300 per night in Thailand runs USD 150 to 200 in Vietnam for a comparable product. That gap is real and well-documented on Chinese booking platforms. Combined with proximity, familiar food, and genuinely friendly locals, Vietnam checks every box for Chinese travelers looking for a short 4 to 7-day trip.

What they complain about: language barriers outside major cities are more significant than in Thailand. Some Chinese travelers mention that Mandarin-speaking staff and Chinese payment systems are still inconsistent outside Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and the main resort areas. Traffic in Ho Chi Minh City surprises first-time visitors. And the sheer volume of Chinese tourists in peak spots like Ha Long Bay means some travelers find the “hidden gem” framing no longer accurate. The honest reviews from repeat visitors suggest: go in shoulder season, book well-rated accommodation in advance, and manage expectations about crowds at famous sites.

Opportunities for businesses

Vietnam’s tourism business opportunity with Chinese visitors is significant and growing, but capturing it requires active positioning, not just geographic luck. Chinese travelers research on Xiaohongshu before they book on Ctrip. If your hotel, restaurant, or tour operation is not visible in the discovery phase, you are not in the running regardless of how good your product is.

For hotels in Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City: Xiaohongshu content with specific location context performs well. Posts that show the actual view from a specific room, the breakfast spread, the proximity to the beach, and recent guest experiences reach Chinese travelers in active planning mode. Encourage guests to post during their stay. A photo from your terrace at sunset reaches more potential guests than most paid advertising.

For tour operators: the shift from group tours to independent travel (FIT) is now complete for the under-40 Chinese traveler. They do not find you through group tour operators anymore. They find you through Douyin video content and Xiaohongshu posts, then book on Ctrip or directly via WeChat. Your presence on Chinese platforms is your distribution channel now. Set up a WeChat Official Account for direct booking inquiries. Connect your Ctrip listing to recent Mandarin reviews. These steps convert discovery into revenue.

Payment infrastructure matters. WeChat Pay and Alipay acceptance at hotels, restaurants, tour desks, and markets removes friction at every spend point. Chinese tourists who can pay on their phone spend more and review better. For businesses in areas still catching up on Chinese payment systems, this is the highest-leverage single operational change to make. Read more about Xiaohongshu marketing for tourism and Douyin strategy for hospitality.

Summary table

Metric	Figure	Source
Chinese visitors to Vietnam, 2025	5.28 million (+41% vs 2024)	AGB / Focus on Travel News, Jan 2026
China’s share of Vietnam arrivals, 2025	~25% of 21.2 million total	Vietnam Tourism Authority
China visitors, Q1 2026	1.4 million (No. 1 source market)	The Traveler, 2026
Vietnam total arrivals, Jan-May 2026	10.6 million (record)	DTI News, June 2026
Da Nang Chinese arrivals, 2025	565,000+ (+48% vs 2024)	Vietnam.vn / Da Nang Tourism
Vietnam 2026 target	25 million international visitors	Vietnam National Tourism Authority

Reach them on Xiaohongshu and Douyin

For Vietnam’s tourism businesses, Xiaohongshu is where Chinese travelers build their entire trip. Da Nang has already recognized this and runs active Xiaohongshu content campaigns through its city tourism bureau. The businesses and hotels that partner with that kind of destination-level content, or that run their own active accounts, are the ones filling their Chinese booking slots weeks before the traveler departs. Posts about beach resorts, food markets, and cultural experiences in Vietnam get high save rates, meaning travelers are storing them for future trips, not just browsing. Save rates translate into bookings.

Douyin works particularly well for Vietnam because the country is visually compelling in ways that are easy to capture in short video: Halong Bay from a boat deck, lanterns in Hoi An at night, a street food vendor making banh xeo. Content under 30 seconds showing one beautiful or delicious thing performs better than extended travel vlogs. Vietnamese businesses that run consistent Douyin accounts build audiences in China before those travelers have even started planning their next trip. That is the right moment to be visible.

CTA helps hotels, resorts, tour operators, and attractions in Vietnam build their Chinese platform presence. Xiaohongshu content creation, Douyin campaign management, WeChat Official Account setup, and KOC partnerships with Chinese travel creators who specialize in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. If you want to be part of Vietnam’s record 2026 Chinese tourism numbers, the platform work starts now. Visit our services page to see what we offer.

Talk to us

Vietnam is having a genuine tourism moment with Chinese travelers and the numbers are only going up. If your business is not visible on the platforms where Chinese visitors plan their trips, you are giving bookings to your competitors. Contact us here and let us show you what a full Chinese marketing strategy looks like.

Pedro Wang is the founder of Chinese Tourists Agency, a Shanghai-based agency helping Vietnam tourism businesses attract Chinese visitors. June 2026.