Vietnam’s food tourism opportunity is supported by a large visitor market and a substantial food-service economy. In 2024, the country attracted approximately 17.6 million international visitors, while accommodation and food services generated VND733.9 trillion. The figures below show how visitor demand, dining businesses, culinary recognition and domestic travel fit together.
Contents
- International visitor market
- Food service and hospitality economy
- Domestic travel and holiday demand
- Culinary supply and restaurant recognition
- Markets, access and business conditions
- What the figures mean for food tourism
International visitor market
Vietnam welcomed approximately 17.6 million international visitors in 2024, according to VOV’s Vietnam tourism in 2024. That total was 39.5% higher than in 2023 and represented 97.6% of the 2019 level. December alone brought 1.75 million international tourists, a 27.4% year-on-year increase.
The recovery was overwhelmingly connected by air. Air arrivals exceeded 14.8 million in 2024, accounting for 84.4% of all international visitors. Road arrivals reached 2.5 million, or 14.2%, while sea arrivals reached 248,100, or 1.4%. These shares describe how visitors entered the country; they do not measure how much of their spending went to restaurants or food experiences.
Asia supplied 80% of Vietnam’s international visitors in 2024. South Korea was the largest source market, sending 4.56 million visitors. China sent 3.74 million, Taiwan 1.29 million, the United States 780,000 and Japan 711,464.
| 2024 source market or arrival mode | Visitors or share |
|---|---|
| Total international visitors | Approximately 17.6 million |
| Asia’s share | 80% |
| South Korea | 4.56 million |
| China | 3.74 million |
| Taiwan | 1.29 million |
| United States | 780,000 |
| Japan | 711,464 |
| Air arrivals | More than 14.8 million / 84.4% |
| Road arrivals | 2.5 million / 14.2% |
| Sea arrivals | 248,100 / 1.4% |
The international total also appears in a shorter measurement window. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service HCMC food service report recorded more than 14.1 million international visitors in the first 10 months of 2024, up 41% year on year. Vietnam Tourism’s official service and tourism sector report recorded more than 8.8 million international visitors in the first half of 2024, up 58.4% year on year. Because these figures cover different periods, they should not be added together.
Food service and hospitality economy
The strongest direct indicators for food tourism are the values attached to accommodation, food and beverage services. VOV reported VND733.9 trillion in accommodation and food-service revenue for 2024, up 12.9% year on year. The same source reported VND62.5 trillion in tourism revenue, up 16%.
For the first half of 2024, Vietnam Tourism reported VND356.4 trillion in accommodation and food-service revenue, up 15.2% year on year. Travel and tourism revenue reached VND29.4 trillion, up 37.1%, while other service revenue reached VND314.6 trillion, up 8.9%. These are separate categories reported for the first six months, not components that should be combined with the full-year figures.
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service HCMC food service report measured accommodation, food and beverage services at $24.1 billion in the first 10 months of 2024, an increase of 12.5% year on year. It also estimated Vietnam’s food-service sector at $26.9 billion in 2023, with 15% growth that year. The broader HRI sector grew 14.7% in 2023.
Vietnam’s food retail sales increased 4% to $55 billion in 2023, according to the same USDA report. Traditional trade accounted for 84% of food-retail value in that year. Food retail is not identical to restaurant tourism, but it helps show the scale of the wider food economy that visitors encounter through markets, shops and local purchasing.
The culinary economy also includes processing. Vietnam’s food-processing industry was valued at $73.8 billion in 2023 and included 11,000 registered companies. These figures describe the production base rather than tourist consumption, so they are useful context rather than a direct measure of food-tourism spending.
Domestic travel and holiday demand
Food tourism demand comes from residents as well as overseas guests. Vietnam Tourism recorded 66.5 million domestic visitor trips in the first half of 2024. During Tet, from February 8 to 14, 2024, the country served 10.5 million domestic visitor trips, up 16.6% from the same holiday period in 2023. Overnight domestic visitors during Tet reached about 3.5 million trips, up 75% year on year.
Room demand gives a second view of holiday travel intensity. Average room capacity during Tet 2024 was about 45% to 50% nationwide. The New Year 2024 holiday brought 3.2 million visitor arrivals. During the April 27 to May 1, 2024 holiday, tourist accommodation establishments recorded around 60% average room capacity nationwide, while some coastal destinations reached 95% to 100% occupancy.
These measurements matter for food-focused trips because visitors who stay overnight have more opportunities to eat across several occasions: markets, breakfast venues, regional restaurants and evening destinations. The statistics do not quantify meals per traveler, so they should be read as indicators of travel volume and accommodation pressure rather than as a direct restaurant-spend calculation.
Vietnam’s first-half macroeconomic context was also positive. GDP grew 6.42% in the first half of 2024, and the service and tourism sector contributed 49.76% to GDP growth during that period, according to Vietnam Tourism’s official service and tourism sector report. The contribution figure refers to growth contribution, not the sector’s share of GDP.
Culinary supply and restaurant recognition
Vietnam’s culinary offer is broad. The Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association, cited by Vietnam Tourism, estimates that Vietnam has more than 3,000 dishes and around 30,000 restaurants and culinary zones nationwide. The same Vietnam Tourism article reports 15,000 to 20,000 Vietnamese restaurants overseas.
Vietnam Tourism also states that food, beverage and services account for 70% of tourism-sector revenue in Vietnam. This is a sector-revenue claim and should not be treated as the percentage of every visitor’s budget spent on meals.
International recognition provides another measurable layer. The MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024 listed 164 food establishments: 7 one-MICHELIN-star venues, 58 Bib Gourmand venues and 99 MICHELIN-selected venues. The Bib Gourmand category doubled to 58 venues in 2024.
Da Nang is especially relevant to Central Vietnam travel. It contributed 16 Bib Gourmand venues to the 2024 selection and added 36 new establishments to that year’s Michelin selection. Those figures indicate strong representation in a major Central Vietnamese destination, although they do not measure the full number of local restaurants or total dining revenue.
| Culinary indicator | Reported figure | Measurement period or source |
|---|---|---|
| Dishes in Vietnam | More than 3,000 | Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association, cited by Vietnam Tourism |
| Restaurants and culinary zones | Around 30,000 | Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association, cited by Vietnam Tourism |
| Vietnamese restaurants overseas | 15,000–20,000 | Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association, cited by Vietnam Tourism |
| MICHELIN-listed establishments | 164 | MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024 |
| One-MICHELIN-star venues | 7 | MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024 |
| Bib Gourmand venues | 58 | MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024 |
| MICHELIN-selected venues | 99 | MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024 |
| Da Nang Bib Gourmand venues | 16 | MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024 |
Markets, access and business conditions
Visitor access policy formed part of the demand environment in 2024. The visa-exemption policy introduced in August 2023 covered 25 countries and allowed citizens of those countries to stay for 45 days. Vietnam’s e-visa allowed a 90-day stay, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service HCMC food service report.
The business supply was not uniformly expanding. More than 30,000 food-service operators closed in the first half of 2024, according to that report. The number of food and beverage businesses fell 3.9% to 304,700 outlets in 2024. These figures show that headline visitor growth coexisted with pressure on operators and should temper any assumption that every restaurant benefited equally.
Hanoi’s tourism infrastructure illustrates how destination facilities can be counted. By the end of November 2024, Hanoi had more than 3,700 accommodation facilities and approximately 71,200 rooms. It had 91 one- to five-star hotels and serviced apartments with 12,000 rooms. The city also had 45 certified dining establishments meeting tourism standards, 43 certified shopping facilities, 7 certified entertainment venues and 2 certified health and wellness centers.
Hanoi is not Central Vietnam, so these figures are a national tourism-market comparison rather than a local estimate for Da Nang, Hoi An or other Central Vietnamese destinations. They show the range of tourism-support facilities that official destination reporting can track.
What the figures mean for food tourism
Taken together, the statistics describe a market with several layers of demand. International visitation was close to the 2019 level in 2024, with Asia providing four-fifths of overseas arrivals. Domestic travel added tens of millions of trips, including strong holiday surges. The accommodation and food-service economy grew in both full-year and partial-year measurements.
The dining offer is also unusually measurable at different scales: more than 3,000 dishes, around 30,000 restaurants and culinary zones, 164 establishments in the MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024, and 16 Da Nang Bib Gourmand venues. These are complementary indicators, not interchangeable totals. The association estimates describe broad culinary supply, while Michelin counts a curated selection.
The main qualification is business unevenness. More than 30,000 operators reportedly closed in the first half of 2024, and the number of food and beverage outlets fell 3.9% to 304,700. For travelers, that combination means Vietnam’s food tourism story includes both expanding visibility and a competitive operating environment. For Central Vietnam, Da Nang’s Michelin presence supplies a concrete recognition signal within a wider national recovery, while the visitor and domestic-trip totals show the size of the audience that regional food experiences can serve.