The northern province of Vietnam’s Ninh Binh hosted a conference on national tourism promotion for 2026 with the goal of boosting country’s competitiveness as a travel destination worldwide and enhancing cooperation between local governments, businesses, and communities.
Co-hosted by the provincial People’s Committee and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the November 19 event aimed to increase private sector involvement in marketing initiatives and capitalize on Vietnam’s natural, culinary, cultural, and historical resources to enhance its national tourism brand.
According to Ho An Phong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the conference highlighted the need to improve multi-platform communications, accelerate the use of digital tools, and revamp promotion strategies.
He emphasized that close coordination between the State, localities, and businesses is a key component in building combined strength in communication efforts in global markets, and that public-private and interregional cooperation will be crucial to increasing Vietnam’s visibility in international markets.
He stated that participants called for the use of Vietnamese cultural values, especially cuisine, in national branding and suggested new models of cooperation, joint promotional programs, and international fairs. Creating a national culinary identity system and focused international campaigns are priorities.
Improvements to policies to support tourism enterprises, improve coordination between localities and ministries, mobilize more private resources for promotion, and increase the role of industry associations and strategic partners were also covered at the conference.
The Deputy Minister tasked the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) with drafting the 2026 tourism promotion plan, modernizing promotional materials and techniques, concentrating on significant communication campaigns, and stepping up digital promotion and international collaboration in order to successfully carry out forthcoming tasks.
Localities were urged to prioritize high-quality, experience-driven tourism products, create promotion plans that play to their strengths, and actively participate in national campaigns. Additionally, they were urged to improve the business climate.
In order to take advantage of market opportunities and changes in international travel patterns, the business community and industry associations were asked to keep innovating, creating new products, and fortifying ties between businesses as well as between businesses and localities.
Given the globalized and fiercely competitive nature of the tourism industry, no locality can pursue sustainable tourism development in isolation, according to Ha Thi Lan Anh, vice chairwoman of the Ninh Binh People’s Committee. According to her, creating cohesive tourism value chains will require increased interprovincial cooperation through the exchange of resources, knowledge, markets, and expertise.
In order to promote a connected, intelligent, and sustainable tourism ecosystem that is in line with Vietnam’s development priorities, Ninh Binh is dedicated to actively and responsibly participating in regional and national cooperation frameworks, she stated.
In the first ten months of 2025, Vietnam received over 17.2 million foreign visitors, up 21.5% from the same period the previous year, according to the VNAT.
In the first half of the year, the nation was one of the top two destinations in the world for the growth of inbound tourism. Following the pandemic, Vietnam’s tourism branding—focused on “Vietnam: Timeless Charm” and “Live Fully in Vietnam”—has been reinforced, with Vietnamese travel destinations consistently ranking among the fastest-growing global locations in Google search interest and winning multiple international awards.
