Growth or Value? Vietnam’s Tourism Leaders Head to Da Nang to Set the 2027 Agenda

DA NANG: Vietnam’s national tourism authority, industry associations, and senior hotel executives will gather at Furama Resort Danang on Thursday, August 20, for a seminar titled “Vietnam Tourism in 2027: Growth or Growing Value?”, a morning-long debate over the strategic direction of an industry coming off its strongest year on record.

^{Da Nang skyline. Photo: Kirandeep Singh Walia}

The seminar, running from 8:00 a.m. to noon, opens with remarks from the leadership of the Da Nang People’s Committee and Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director General of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT). Do Hong Xoan, Vice Chair of the Vietnam Tourism Association and Chair of the Vietnam Hotel Association, will deliver the opening address, while Andre Gentzech, Vice President of Horecfex Vietnam, will introduce the hospitality trade platform behind the event.

The program is built around data. Do Cam Tho, Head of Planning and Finance at VNAT, will present the government’s tourism development orientation for 2026–2030. Hannah Pearson, Director of Southeast Asia-focused consultancy Pear Anderson, will assess where Vietnam stands on the regional tourism map, followed by Oxy Ong of STR – CoStar Group with hotel performance data and market signals for the 2027–2030 period. A representative of Meta will examine how travelers research and book in the digital era, and Dang Manh Phuoc, CEO of The Outbox Company, will close the presentation block with an analysis of destination competitiveness.

The morning culminates in a panel discussion, “Choosing the Right Strategy for Tourism Growth”, moderated by Nguyen Cao Son, Chairman of APC Corporation. Panelists include Nguyen Duc Quynh, General Director of Furama Da Nang; Dinh Trong Khoa, Director of Business Development for Vietnam at IHG; Vu Cong, General Director of Jandec Asia; and The Outbox Company’s Dang Manh Phuoc.

The seminar’s central question is well timed. Vietnam welcomed a record 21.2 million international visitors in 2025 (up 20.4 percent year-on-year and 17.8 percent above its pre-pandemic peak) and is targeting 25 million arrivals in 2026, according to VNAT and the National Statistics Office. Total tourism revenue crossed the symbolic threshold of 1 quadrillion dong (roughly US$40 billion) for the first time, up 22.1 percent, on official estimates. Momentum has carried into this year: arrivals reached nearly 12.3 million in the first half of 2026, up 14.9 percent year-on-year.

^{Golden Bridge, Ba Na Hills. Photo: Vivu Vietnam/Unsplash}

Behind the record numbers, however, lies the tension the Da Nang agenda puts squarely on the table. Analysis published by The Outbox Company, whose CEO will present at the seminar, argues that revenue growth has largely moved in parallel with visitor volume rather than outpacing it, meaning spending per visitor has not meaningfully improved even as arrivals surged. The firm points to Vietnam’s heavy concentration in short-haul, price-sensitive source markets as a structural constraint on yield. It is a pattern familiar from Thailand’s own pivot toward “quality over quantity” tourism, and one that Vietnam, still celebrating its volume records, has yet to confront head-on.

The stakes extend well beyond the conference room. How Vietnam balances volume against value in 2027 will shape hotel investment pipelines, airline route planning, and destination marketing budgets across the country, and, given Vietnam’s weight in Southeast Asia’s recovery story, across the region. Whether the industry’s answer is “growth,” “value,” or a credible path to both, the discussion in Da Nang promises one of the more consequential strategy debates of the year, and its conclusions will be worth watching closely. BriefAsia will follow up with the key takeaways from the seminar and what they signal for Vietnam’s 2027 playbook.

Market statistics attributed to VNAT and the National Statistics Office; revenue figures are official estimates; value-per-visitor analysis attributed to The Outbox Company (Vietnam Travel Landscape Report 2026).