Vietnam tourism continues to make its mark at World Travel Awards 2026
WVR - On the evening of September 27 in the Maldives, Vietnam was once again honored at the World Travel Awards for the Asia, Oceania, and Indian Ocean regions in 2026, securing two titles: “Asia's Leading Destination” and “Asia's Leading Heritage Destination”, along with numerous awards for localities, destinations, and tourism enterprises.
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The award ceremony took place at CROSSROADS Maldives, gathering representatives from the tourism, travel, and service industries from various countries in the region. According to the World Travel Awards, Vietnam clinched the title of “Asia's Leading Destination 2026”, maintaining this position since 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Vietnam's continued recognition at an international award for multiple entities in the tourism sector comes as domestic destinations, products, and brands increasingly appear in various categories, from urban, nature, heritage to aviation, resorts, and travel.
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| Ta Xua Cloud Paradise - Asia's Leading Emerging Destination. (Source: Tourism Information Center) |
From national destinations to new lands
Vietnam's mark at the World Travel Awards 2026 is not only reflected in national-level titles. Many destinations and localities continue to be recognized, showcasing an increasingly diverse picture of Vietnam's tourism in terms of products and experiential spaces.
Hanoi was awarded the title of “Asia's Leading City Break Destination”, while Ho Chi Minh City continued to be recognized in categories related to urban tourism, events, festivals, and business travel. The title “Asia's Leading Business Travel Destination 2026” was confirmed by the World Travel Awards to belong to Ho Chi Minh City.
In the category of natural and emerging destinations, Ta Xua and Moc Chau of Son La continued to be mentioned with their unique landscape and experiential advantages. Phong Nha - Ke Bang continued to make its mark with titles related to national parks, while Tam Chuc was honored in the cultural landscape category.
These results demonstrate that the appeal of Vietnam's tourism is not concentrated on a single type. From major cities with service systems, events, and business activities, to mountainous areas, natural destinations, cultural spaces, and heritage, each product group is contributing to offering more choices for the international tourist market.
This approach also aligns with the trend of diversifying tourist experiences, where a journey can increasingly combine multiple needs, from exploring nature, learning about culture, relaxing to experiencing cuisine and participating in events.
The tourism ecosystem also recognized
Along with localities and destinations, many enterprises, brands, and service providers in Vietnam continued to be named in this year's award categories.
In the integrated tourism sector, Sun Group was recognised in the category of “Asia's Leading Integrated Tourism Group”. Phu Quoc Sunset Town received the title of “Asia's Leading Tourism Development Project”. Vietnam Airlines was honored in categories related to customer experience and premium economy class. Van Don was recognized as Asia's leading regional airport, while Ha Long International Cruise Port received the title of Asia's leading cruise port.
In the travel and entertainment sector, Vietravel was honored as Asia's leading travel company, while Sun World Ba Na Hills continued to be recognized in the theme park category. Many of Vietnam's resorts also appeared in categories for the luxury and boutique resort segments.
The World Travel Awards have been organized since 1993, recognizing achievements in the tourism and travel sectors. The award system is implemented across different regions and categories, for destinations, hotels, resorts, airlines, travel companies, and service providers.
On September 27, the 2026 Asia, Oceania, and Indian Ocean regional awards ceremony took place in the Maldives, as part of the World Travel Awards Grand Tour 2026.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Graham Cooke, Founder of the World Travel Awards, congratulated the honoured entities and assessed them as exemplary representatives of quality and achievements in the region's tourism industry.
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| Sun World Ba Na Hills - Asia's Leading Theme Park. (Source: Tourism Information Center) |
The simultaneous presence of destinations, management agencies, airlines, travel companies, resorts, and tourism products demonstrates that the development of Vietnam's tourism is being showcased across many links in the value chain. Not only destination resources, but also service organization capabilities and the ability to create experiences are increasingly becoming factors that contribute to shaping the industry's competitiveness.
Another noteworthy milestone, on September 25, the World Economic Forum announced the Global Travel and Tourism Development Index 2026 (TTDI), in which Vietnam ranked 52nd out of 110 economies, up 7 places from the 2024 assessment. Vietnam scored 4.15 points, an increase of 6.1% compared to 2024.
While the TTDI reflects various conditions and development capabilities of the tourism industry at the national level, the awards at the World Travel Awards provide an additional perspective from the system of categories for destinations and enterprises. The two results announced in the same September continue to supplement noteworthy data on the position and competitiveness of Vietnam's tourism in the international market.
