In the first 11 months of 2025, the total number of international tourists to Vietnam has reached more than 19.1 million, which increased by 20.9% compared to the number of a year earlier. This number is the highest breakthrough of Vietnam, surpassing its pre-pandemic peak of more than 18 million arrivals in 2019, according to the General Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance.

On the morning of November 7, the garden within the Vietnamese Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, was filled with laughter and chatter as more than 40 international guests attended a Vietnamese cooking class. The participants included members of the International Diplomatic Spouses Association in South Africa and representatives of the South African Women’s Association.

In recent months, Vietnam’s expanded visa exemption policy has made it easier for European travelers to visit and explore the country, with the number of Eastern European tourists searching for Vietnamese destinations on the Agoda platform surging by 59%. Among these, the “Pearl Island” of Phu Quoc has emerged as the most favored destination, witnessing a remarkable 113% increase in searches compared to the same period last year.

On October 17 in Hanoi, the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam and Save the Children Japan signed a grant agreement for the project “Improving Livelihoods for Ethnic Minority Communities in Son La Province through Agriculture and Nutrition Enhancement.” This marks the third and final year of the project, with a total budget of USD 1.8 million for the three-year period (2023-2026).