What’s the secret to attracting a record number of Russian tourists to Vietnam?

The number of Russian tourists traveling to Vietnam grew at a record pace in 2025, with nearly 700,000 visitors — equivalent to 196.9% compared with 2024, breaking the record set in 2019. As Vietnam closed out 2025 with a record 21.2 million international arrivals, the tourism industry officially marked a historic milestone, surpassing the 2019 peak by nearly 18%.

Record Growth in Russian Visitors

According to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), this strong growth came from a diverse range of markets, including India (+48.9%), Cambodia (+44.8%), China (+41.3%), and Japan (+14.4%).

Most notably, Russia saw the fastest increase among all source markets. With 689,714 Russian tourists in 2025, the figure rose 196.9% year-on-year compared with 2024, and officially surpassed the previous record of 646,500 Russian tourists in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Russian Travel Industry Association (RTI), Vietnam became a top choice for all-inclusive package tours in 2025, thanks to favorable visa policies and an expanded flight network.

Quickly restarting charter and package flights from Moscow and other major Russian cities to key tourist hubs like Cam Ranh and Phu Quoc created an important “bridge” that fueled this boom.

For Russian travelers, Vietnam is now positioning itself as a competitive alternative in the all-inclusive resort segment — combining warm year-round weather, family-friendly tourism options, and reasonable costs. These factors are reshaping travel preferences, replacing traditional European winter destinations.

Using Advertising Technology in Tourism Promotion

Industry experts say the real story of 2025 isn’t just about the numbers — it’s a structural shift: from quantity-based growth toward a model focused on user intent and data accuracy.

According to Thu Nguyen, a strategic AdTech and business development expert, this breakthrough exemplifies the increasingly important role of advertising technology (AdTech). Previously, the tourism industry relied on broad promotional campaigns by season or country. By 2025, modern AdTech infrastructure has allowed stakeholders to go beyond traditional demographic targeting and focus on behavioral and contextual signals.

By identifying users actively searching for warm-weather destinations in winter, families comparing long-stay vacation packages, and groups interested in wellness travel, AdTech has acted like a precise filter.

Behavioral targeting ensures that Vietnam’s tourism imagery appears at the right time for “high-potential” customer segments — such as families or groups seeking wellness vacations lasting 10–28 days — long before booking.

Reaching travelers who already love premium experiences in Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, and Da Nang helps ensure that visitors to Vietnam represent demand-validated segments.

According to Thu Nguyen, Vietnam’s tourism policy has repeatedly emphasized shifting from large numbers to maximizing value per visitor. AdTech has become one of the most effective tools for executing this strategy because it can diversify markets without doubling marketing budgets and optimize promotion based on tourist intent rather than just passport origin.

Building on the success of 2025, Thu Nguyen says that success in 2026 will depend on eliminating barriers in the traveler journey — from interoperable digital payment gateways to seamless online services — ensuring that every global traveler’s “intent” can be fully converted into real economic value in Vietnam.