An English guide to the Vietnamese outbound travel market
Section · Access
Visas and trade fairs
Two things decide whether a Vietnamese traveller can realistically choose your destination: the visa, and whether the Vietnamese travel trade knows and sells you. This section covers the visa landscape for Vietnamese passport holders and the two large travel fairs held in Vietnam each year.
The passport in one paragraph
In the Henley Passport Index update of 9 March 2026, the Vietnamese passport ranked 84th, up from 86th in January, with 48 destinations reachable without a visa obtained in advance. Its best position in the index's history was 78th, in 2006 and 2007. According to Tuoi Tre's summary of the list, most of Southeast Asia is in the visa-free group, while Korea, a close neighbour to the north-east, requires a visa (VOV); check each country with its consular authority.
Visa rules do not stop demand, but they shape it. Korea requires a visa from Vietnamese travellers and still grew arrivals by about a tenth in the first half of 2025; Thailand, which VOV credits with an easy visa process, has long been the first choice. The visa page has the lists and what a tourism board can do about the paperwork.
Sources: KTSG Online — Vietnamese passport 84th in the Henley index (9 March 2026 update); Tuoi Tre — Henley Passport Index, March 2026, with the destination lists; VOV — Vietnamese outbound travel in the first half of 2025 (NSO, JNTO and destination data) · last checked .
Two fairs, two cities
| VITM Hanoi | ITE HCMC | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 dates | 10–12 April 2026 | 27–29 August 2026 |
| Venue | I.C.E Hanoi | Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) |
| 2026 scale | 450 booths | 520+ exhibitors and brands expected |
| Next edition | not announced on the organiser site when checked | 9–11 September 2027 |
Both fairs bring tourism promotion agencies, airlines and travel companies together, and ITE HCMC adds days open to the public, when Vietnamese travel companies sell packages directly. Foreign tourism boards exhibit; at ITE HCMC 2026 they included the Korea Tourism Organization and the Japan National Tourism Organization. The fairs page compares them and suggests how to prepare.
Sources: Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — VITM Hanoi 2026 event listing; VITM Hanoi — organiser website; ITE HCMC — organiser press release, 9 August 2026 · last checked .
Why the two topics belong together
A fair stand is wasted if the people who visit it cannot get a visa in time, and a visa simplification is wasted if the Vietnamese trade does not hear about it. Destinations that do well with Vietnamese travellers tend to treat the two as one job: they explain the visa in Vietnamese, give tour operators the documents they need, and use the fairs to announce changes in person.
Fairs are also the moment when Vietnamese travel media gather in one place. A visa change, a new direct flight or a new product announced at a fair press conference reaches agents and editors in the same week.
A simple timetable
Working back from the Vietnamese calendar gives a rough order. Visa guidance in Vietnamese needs to be published before the trade starts selling, and the trade sells ahead of the long breaks: Tet, which in 2027 runs from 4 to 10 February for public employees, the 30 April and 1 May break, the summer, and National Day in early September. The fairs sit inside that cycle, VITM in April and ITE HCMC in late August or September, so a visa change announced at a fair still reaches agents in time for the next long break.
Sources: Ha Tinh provincial portal — Ministry of Home Affairs notice 11483/TB-BNV on Tet and National Day 2027; Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — VITM Hanoi 2026 event listing; ITE HCMC — organiser press release, 9 August 2026 · last checked .
Pages in this section
- The visa landscape for Vietnamese passport holders — Henley lists, what visa rules do to demand, and practical help for applicants.
- Vietnam travel fairs: VITM Hanoi and ITE HCMC — dates, formats, who attends and how to prepare.
Common questions
Questions readers ask
How many destinations can Vietnamese visit without a visa?
The Henley Passport Index counted 48 destinations reachable without a visa obtained in advance in its March 2026 update. Check each country's official rules before relying on any list.
Which travel fairs in Vietnam are open to the public?
ITE HCMC opens to consumers, with tour offers, next to its trade programme. Check VITM Hanoi's programme with its organiser.
Related
Read next
Access · Visas
Visas
Henley Passport Index lists for Vietnam, how visa rules shape demand, and practical help for applicants.
Access · Trade fairs
Travel fairs
VITM Hanoi and ITE HCMC compared: dates, scale, programmes, public days and how to prepare a stand.
Market · Destinations
Where they go
Reported Vietnamese arrivals in Thailand, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and what visa, flights and culture explain.
Section · Market
Outbound market
Size, growth, destinations and the holiday calendar of Vietnamese outbound travel, with sources.
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