An English guide to the Vietnamese outbound travel market
Section · Media
Vietnamese media and platforms
Most Vietnamese internet users are on Facebook, Zalo and TikTok, and most digital advertising money in Vietnam now goes to platforms based abroad. Next to them stands a licensed press, with travel sections that cover foreign destinations. This section explains both, and what each means for a foreign travel brand.
The audience in four numbers
- 85.6 million internet users in Vietnam in October 2025, 84.2% of the population.
- 79.0 million social media user identities, 77.6% of the population.
- 78.3 million monthly active users of Zalo, the domestic messaging app, according to its owner VNG.
- 76.1 million adults reachable with TikTok ads, and 79.0 million with Facebook ads, in late 2025.
The last two figures are advertising reach, published by the platforms in their ad tools. They are not counts of active users and can move when a platform cleans its data. The social platforms page sets each figure next to the type of measure it is.
Sources: DataReportal — Digital 2026: Vietnam (data mostly October 2025) · last checked .
Where the advertising money goes
At a November 2025 seminar on the amended advertising law, a deputy director of the Authority of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information said that digital advertising was expected to make up 70–75% of advertising revenue in Vietnam in 2025, up from under half in 2020. The official said 85–90% of that digital revenue went to cross-border platforms such as TikTok, Google and Facebook, and about 10% to Vietnamese press and news sites.
For a foreign tourism board that split is a planning fact. Paid reach is bought mostly on the global platforms; credibility, and the stories that travel agents forward to customers, still come largely from the Vietnamese press. Short video was described at the same seminar as the dominant format, and reviews, once seen as simple experience-sharing, as a form of advertising.
Sources: Saigon Giai Phong — seminar on the amended advertising law, KOLs and digital advertising (12 Nov 2025) · last checked .
A licensed press, with travel desks
Vietnamese newspapers and news sites operate under press licences, and the licence number is printed in their footers. Large titles run travel sections that cover foreign destinations as well as domestic ones; VnExpress's travel section, for example, runs stories on Taiwan, the United States and East Africa next to Vietnamese food and places. A Press Law amendment passed in December 2025 brings press agencies' own social media channels inside the definition of a press product.
The news media page explains how the system works, how editorial and paid content are separated, and what to ask a local agency before a media campaign.
Sources: Tuoi Tre — Henley Passport Index, March 2026, with the destination lists; VnExpress — Du lich (travel) section; Lawyers of Vietnam — amended Press Law passed on 10 December 2025 · last checked .
Messaging is where conversations end up
Zalo is a messaging app first. Businesses use an official account, Zalo OA, to message people who have interacted with them, to run menus and chatbots, to publish articles and video, and to keep customer notes. For a hotel or attraction selling to Vietnamese guests, the question is less "should we post on Zalo" and more "who answers the messages, in Vietnamese, and how fast". The localisation page covers service in more detail.
Sources: Zalo Official Account — official product page; DataReportal — Digital 2026: Vietnam (data mostly October 2025) · last checked .
Pages in this section
- Vietnamese social platforms for travel brands — Facebook, TikTok, Zalo, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn, with figures and roles.
- Vietnamese travel media and news sites — the licensed press, travel desks, the 2025 Press Law changes and paid content.
Common questions
Questions readers ask
Which social platform reaches most Vietnamese?
Facebook, Zalo and TikTok all report audiences close to 80 million, but they measure different things: ad reach for Facebook and TikTok, monthly active users for Zalo.
Do Vietnamese news sites cover foreign destinations?
Yes. Large titles run travel sections that publish stories about destinations abroad.
Is Zalo used for marketing or for customer service?
Both, but its core is messaging. Businesses use official accounts to talk to people who have already interacted with them.
Related
Read next
Media · Social platforms
Social platforms
Audience figures for Facebook, TikTok, Zalo, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn in Vietnam, and their roles.
Media · News and travel desks
Travel media
How the Vietnamese press is licensed, travel desks, the 2025 Press Law changes and labelled paid content.
Rules · Agencies and creators
Agencies and KOLs
Writing briefs and contracts for Vietnamese PR agencies and creators under the 2026 advertising rules.
Rules · Localisation
Localisation
Language, payment methods, chat-based service and family travel patterns for Vietnamese guests.
Independent B2B guide
Home
Start here: the Vietnamese outbound market, its media, visas, fairs and rules, each fact dated and sourced.
Start planning
Write to the PR Viet editors
Report a figure or rule that has changed, ask about a page, or send an advertising enquiry. PR Viet does not sell PR or advertising services and does not pass your details to anyone.