According to data from the National Tourism Administration, in the first 8 months of the year, Vietnam welcomed more than 7.8 million international visitors. Of which, American visitors ranked 3rd in the top 10 markets sending the largest number of visitors to Vietnam, with nearly 503,000 arrivals, after Korean visitors (2.2 million) and Chinese visitors (950,000). In 2022, when China has not yet opened its doors, American visitors ranked second, after Korean visitors.

Data from the National Tourism Administration shows that in the 10 consecutive years before the pandemic (2010-2019), the number of American visitors to Vietnam always ranked 4th or 5th in the top 10 largest tourist sending markets and continuously increased every year.

"The US is a market with the number of tourists and travel spending always ranking at the top in the world because people's demand for foreign travel is high," said Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy General Director of Vietravel Tourism Company.

On average, Gen Z (those born between 1995 and 2012) spend 29 days traveling each year. Millennials (1980-2000) spend 35 days traveling, Gen X (1965-1980) 26 days, and Baby Boomers (1943-1964) 27 days.

The US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) pointed out that before the pandemic, the US was the second largest market in the world in terms of spending and number of international trips, after China. In 2019, Americans took more than 99 million international trips, spending more than 184 billion USD while abroad. After the pandemic, Americans surpassed China to become the number 1 market, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), with more than 35 million trips in the first 6 months of the year.

According to CNN , the US market has long been "coveted" by destination management companies for many reasons. One of them is because of income. The average American salary is about $70,000 per year, the 7th highest in the world. Travel experts say that high income means higher travel expenses.

According to Ms. Phuong Hoang, American visitors to Vietnam spend a lot on food, hotels, and tours, "even higher than other markets like China and Europe". According to the General Statistics Office's 2022 Statistical Yearbook, in 2019, American visitors spent an average of $1,710 in Vietnam, ranking third after visitors from the Philippines and Belgium. American visitors also tend to travel longer and often bring relatives along.

Mr. Pham Ha, CEO of Lux Group, an expert in luxury tourism, said that on average, American tourists spend 15-45 days a year traveling, they often come to Vietnam, then stop by Thailand, Laos or Cambodia and then return to Vietnam. "American tourists account for 10% of the number of tourists my company welcomes every year, but their spending is double, triple or even 10 times that of tourists from other markets," Mr. Ha said. They often choose high-end tours, meals and accommodation. According to Mr. Ha's company's statistics, each American tourist spends an average of 400-500 USD, even 1,000 USD a day. This number is considered high because on average, a foreign tourist in Vietnam spends about 1,200 USD in 9 days.

The US is not only a potential market but also a "gold mine" that the Vietnamese tourism industry needs to target and find ways to exploit thoroughly. American tourists often spend a lot and stay long. "These factors are very beneficial for Vietnamese tourism," said Mr. Ha.

Beautiful nature, warm seas, delicious food and diverse terrain that offer many interesting experiences are the reasons why Americans love Vietnam. Lindy, 40, visited Vietnam for three weeks with her family earlier this year and was quickly drawn to the local cuisine. Lindy loves bun cha, banh cuon and banh bao. "The seafood in Ha Long is extremely fresh. I visited Ha Long Bay and stayed for a week, but still wished I could stay longer. Ninh Binh is the same," the Kansas woman commented. She said that taking a boat to explore the caves was one of her favorite parts. "The whole family had a fun trip and the price was very reasonable," Lindy said.

Besides, Vietnam has many advantages to attract American tourists: The two sides have a historical relationship, Vietnamese people in the US are among the largest overseas Vietnamese group in the world, and diplomatic relations between the two countries are increasingly warm.

According to Mr. Pham Ha, many American tourists, including veterans, come to Vietnam with a curious mentality: How is Vietnam now, do they still hate America? After arriving, many people are surprised because Vietnam has developed so much. What is special is that the people are very friendly. "Many American tourists told me that they feel that Vietnamese people welcome Americans. After finishing their trip, most Americans have good feelings about Vietnam and they often return with their relatives," said Mr. Ha.

Some experts say that 35 million American tourists traveled around the world in the first half of this year but only more than half a million came to Vietnam, which is "too little". Vietnam needs a strategy to attract this rich and potential tourist market. One of them is to loosen visa procedures, step up promotion and advertising of Vietnamese tourism to the US market.

According to Mr. Ha, the US is a large country, so Vietnam needs to divide its market into smaller segments to attract customers. Opening representative offices and promoting Vietnam in many major cities in the US is essential.

According to Ms. Phuong Hoang, Vietnam needs to further promote product development, focusing on topics that Americans like such as cultural tourism, museums, sea tourism and exploration, adventure, experiencing life with local people, visiting old battlefields, and health care. Travel businesses need to research and regularly participate in annual tourism fairs and roadshows in the US such as Roadshow Travel Industry Exchange, New York Times Travel Show, Seatrade Cruise Global.

"We also need to attract American tourists through intermediary markets when some countries in the region welcome quite a lot of American tourists such as Japan, China, Thailand, and the Philippines," said Ms. Hoang.

"Many American tourists told me that Vietnam is a more popular destination than Thailand. Therefore, this rich tourist market is really potential and worthy of investment and exploitation by the tourism industry," said Mr. Pham Ha.