Opening the meeting, Philippines Undersecretary for Tourism Verna Esmeralda Buensuceso emphasized that cooperation between ASEAN and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea goes beyond traditional collaboration, constituting a vital alliance that underscores tourism’s role as a catalyst for unity, mutual understanding and shared prosperity. She noted that ASEAN countries have jointly created a diverse and rich tourism landscape that not only enhances travel experiences but also deepens people-to-people ties across the region.
Tourist arrivals from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea have continued to play a significant role in the growth of ASEAN tourism. In 2024, ASEAN welcomed more than 20 million visitors from China, over 3 million from Japan and more than 9 million from the Republic of Korea, with further growth expected in 2025. She also highlighted the important contributions of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC) and ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC) in advancing ASEAN’s collective tourism goals.
Addressing the meeting, VNAT Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh stated that in 2025, China, the Republic of Korea and Japan remained among Viet Nam’s leading inbound markets, ranking first, second and fifth respectively. Viet Nam welcomed approximately 5.3 million visitors from China, 4.3 million from the Republic of Korea and around 800,000 from Japan. These figures reflect growing confidence in Viet Nam as a safe, attractive and diverse destination, as well as increasingly high-quality demand from these key markets.
According to Mr. Khanh, these positive outcomes have been driven by continuous improvements in tourism infrastructure, service quality and destination management. Viet Nam has also diversified and refined tourism products to better meet market-specific preferences, including cultural and heritage tourism, gastronomy, shopping, wellness, golf and MICE tourism.
Viet Nam currently maintains an effective bilateral tourism cooperation mechanism with Japan and has benefited significantly from its practical outcomes. In this context, Viet Nam expressed its readiness to explore similar cooperation mechanisms with China and the Republic of Korea, based on mutual interests and shared priorities. Viet Nam also regularly hosts delegations from tourism authorities, local governments and businesses from the three partner countries for exchanges and working visits, and stands ready to implement more joint activities to enhance the substance and effectiveness of ASEAN+3 tourism cooperation.
During the meeting, delegates heard reports from the ASEAN Centres in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea on progress made in supporting ASEAN tourism and ASEAN+3 tourism cooperation in 2025.
The Chinese delegation shared that 2025 marked the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges. Leveraging this platform, tourism authorities, research institutions and enterprises from both sides have promoted tourism and cultural exchanges, strengthened public understanding and contributed to deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership. In 2025, arrivals from ASEAN to China reached 19.77 million, up 23.8% year-on-year, while scheduled passenger flights between China and ASEAN countries averaged over 2,500 flights.
The Japanese representative noted that Japan hosted the ASEAN-Japan Tourism Ministers' Special Dialoguein Sendai in 2024. In line with the Sendai Statement, two thematic group discussions were held in 2025 on “Preventing and Minimizing the Impacts of Crises and Disasters Caused by Natural Hazards”. A further discussion on “Absorbing the Impacts of Crises and Disasters Caused by Natural Hazards, and Recovering through Adaptation and Transformationn” is planned for 2026, while 2027 is expected to be designated as the International Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) stated that ASEAN remains a key market for the Republic of Korea. Visitor arrivals from ASEAN to Korea increased from 0.8 million in 2022 to 4.2 million in 2025, while outbound travel from Korea to ASEAN reached 10 million in 2024, and an estimated 6.1 million Korean visitors to ASEAN in the first nine months of 2025. Korea also highlighted the successful organization of the First ASEAN-Korea Tourism Forum in Da Nang in July 2025 and announced that Viet Nam won first prize at the KOPIST 2025 Action Plan Competition.
At the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation leader shared, in 2025, Viet Nam implemented various tourism and cultural promotion activities in close coordination with the three Centres, including music concerts and KOL fam trips, which contributed positively to destination promotion and people-to-people exchanges.
Looking ahead to 2026, Viet Nam called for deeper and more substantive cooperation with the three Centres, focusing on joint promotion, capacity building and innovative initiatives, and reaffirmed its readiness to co-organize more events and projects in Viet Nam to further strengthen ASEAN+3 tourism cooperation.
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