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| International visitors at Hue Imperial Citadel |
Increasing visitors and their spending
As the whole country concentrates its efforts on growth targets, Hue’s tourism sector is showing positive signs. In the first 9 months of 2026, the city welcomed about 6.4 million visitors, up 29% year on year. Of these, international arrivals reached about 1.9 million, up 35.5%, while the number of visitors staying overnight totaled nearly 2.4 million, up 24%. Total tourism revenue is estimated at 15.4 trillion VND, a 60% increase over the same period.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently issued Decision No. 2338/ QD-BVHTTDL, dated September 10, 2026, on the Scenario for developing tourism in line with the double-digit growth target. The decision details tasks and solutions to drive growth in the final months of 2026 and lays the groundwork for the 2027 - 2030 period.
The scenario sets out several options for 2026 and the 2027 - 2030 period to cope with volatility in international markets, the recovery of air travel, and shifts in visitor flows. Notably, among the targets set for 11 key localities, Hue has been tasked with welcoming approximately 2.5 million international arrivals, up 31.5% from 2025. This target places greater demand on Hue to contribute to the sector’s overall growth.
To reach the Ministry’s target of 2.5 million international arrivals, Hue has 3 months left to attract another 600,000 international arrivals. The target is achievable, as the peak season for international visitors in Hue begins in late October. However, this period also coincides with the rainy and flood season, which poses additional challenges for organizing and operating tours, as well as other tourism services.
In the long term, a destination may face limits on how many visitors it can absorb at any given time. For this reason, from the start of 2026, when assigning tasks to the tourism sector, leaders of the City People’s Committee stressed that the goal is to grow not only in volume, but also in quality, with higher spending and longer stays as key factors.
Mr. Dinh Manh Thang, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association and Chairman of the City Tourism Association, said that although Hue has made progress in visitor numbers, the demand for rapid growth raises the challenge of expanding markets and diversifying products to avoid over-reliance on heritage visitors. For many years, Hue’s tourism has depended mainly on its heritage system and heritage-based products. However, visitors who come purely for heritage sightseeing tend to spend relatively little, stay for short periods, and have limited rates of repeat visits.
At Hue Travel Conference 2026, held in September, Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Deputy General Director of Saigontourist Travel Service Company Limited, pointed out shortcomings in tapping the cruise passenger market, as their spending potential has not been fully realized. According to Ms. Tra, cruise passengers stay only briefly, so the destination needs to make spending convenient and accessible. Suitable offerings could include handicrafts with clear origins, short culinary experiences, easy-to-carry souvenirs, cashless payment, delivery services to cruise ships, and quality shopping venues. If efforts focus solely on taking visitors sightseeing without suitable places to shop, it will be harder to keep visitors’ spending within the local community and businesses.
Making tourism a growth driver
In practice, developing tourism and services not only creates revenue for the tourism sector itself, but it also generates demand across many other sectors of the economy. For example, a group of visitors staying one more night in Hue not only brings extra revenue to their accommodation, but also generates demand for restaurants, transport, shopping, sightseeing, and art performances, etc.
Mr. Thang noted that tourism can create a wide ripple effect. On the one hand, it stimulates supporting sectors such as agriculture, transport, energy, construction, technology, and finance. On the other hand, it can expand links with trade, culture, education, healthcare, sports, entertainment, and the night-time economy. If these links are well organized, tourism revenue will not only remain concentrated in the central urban area or a handful of heritage sites, but also reach small businesses, service providers, business households, artisans, workers, and local community.
To contribute to the double-digit growth targets of the tourism sector and the city, the focus needs to shift from increasing visitor numbers to generating greater value. Attracting more visitors is not enough. What matters is raising spending, extending length of stay, and letting tourism revenue flow to more sectors of the economy.
The city needs to develop a diverse range of tourism products built around its heritage. In particular, the night-time economy should be integrated into a chain of products that extends visitors’ experience and encourages their spending. Hue could explore the development of entertainment, dining, and shopping complexes connected with cultural shows, handicrafts, local specialties, and pedestrian streets. The city should also proactively attract major investors to develop internationally branded accommodation, convention centers, commercial services, and entertainment facilities, etc.
To ensure that more of the value generated by tourism stays in the local economy, a local supply network must be developed. Hotels, restaurants, and travel companies need to make greater use of agricultural and seafood products, OCOP products, handicrafts, and services provided by local businesses. As these links expand, tourism revenue will reach more businesses, business households, and residents instead of being concentrated among a few large operators or flowing out through supply chains based elsewhere.
The development of Hue’s tourism should not be viewed solely as the concern of the tourism sector, but as a part of the city’s economic development strategy, involving multiple industries, sectors, and the business community. When visitors stay longer, spend more, and their spending connects with multiple entities in the economy, the value of tourism will go beyond visitor numbers. This is how the city can truly transform its tourism advantages into a substantive growth driver.