Zing Muse – Not just a social media trend, the phrase ‘Vietnam is calling’ is becoming a campaign to strongly spread the image of the S-shaped country to the global tourist community. Under the influence of digital media and international influencers, Vietnam is witnessing a strong revival in the smokeless industry, creating momentum for economic and cultural development and preserving national identity.

“Vietnam is calling” – irresistible attraction

From around June 2025 to now, social media users can easily see images of famous travel bloggers from Europe, America, Australia to Asia, foreign tourists posting videos, photos and status lines with the hashtag #VietnamIsCalling attracting hundreds of millions of views. Immediately, “Vietnam is calling” became a trend that “stormed” the internet.

The common point in the short videos is the image of tourists holding passports, pulling suitcases to the airport or admiring nature, experiencing Vietnamese cuisine and culture with vibrant music. The trend “Vietnam is calling” is the most popular in the summer travel season of 2025, said to be inspired by the famous saying of American naturalist John Muir “The mountains are calling and I must go”. This trend requires participants to act for real, recording the actual journey from the time of booking plane tickets and the excited moments of international tourists on their journey to and exploring Vietnam.

With the melodious music or the call from the tropics, the frames appear vividly: Sapa terraced fields, Hoi An ancient town, Ha Long Bay, Cai Rang floating market, or iced milk coffee on the sidewalks of Hanoi. These images help tourists remember Vietnam as a colorful, friendly and unique destination. TikTok channel owners Jihane and Julian – specializing in creating content about tourism – owning a trending video “Vietnam is calling” with more than 200 thousand views – have many compliments for Vietnamese tourism. The channel owner said he has been to Vietnam twice and will definitely return because the tourist destinations are getting cleaner. In the video, Jihane and Julian enjoy Vietnamese coffee, eat seafood in Da Nang, visit the walking street, experience a basket boat in Bay Mau coconut forest (Hoi An).

“Vietnam is calling” is not just an iconic saying – it evokes the charm of a gentle country, both traditional and modern, both friendly and vibrant.

What is special is that “Vietnam is calling” is not a campaign initiated by the State or any advertising company. It started from the online community – international tourists who, after experiencing Vietnam, shared their feelings. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube play an important role in spreading the image of Vietnam quickly and authentically.

A video posted on TikTok by a Spanish female travel vlogger about her motorbike experience in Ha Giang with the caption “Vietnam is calling” has attracted more than 5 million views and 500,000 likes. The comments are bustling: “I want to go to Vietnam right now!” (I want to go to Vietnam right now” or “Vietnam is top of my bucket list!”)… This is the power of real-life experience combined with social media trends.

This soft promotion strategy is considered more effective than any big-budget media campaign, because it comes from the real emotions of users – no script, no arrangement, no advertising.

The attraction comes from local experiences

The reason why “Vietnam is calling” has become a global trend comes not only from the natural beauty, but also from the authentic experience, close to local life. Tourists can wake up early to go to the market to eat beef noodle soup with the locals, learn how to wrap banh chung in the Northern countryside, row a boat on the Ngo Dong River in Ninh Binh, or try being a fisherman pulling nets in the Central Coast.

Many young Westerners share that they feel the humanity, warmth and hospitality in every small action. From the motorbike taxi driver helping with directions, the restaurant owner asking foreign tourists in broken English, to the friendly homestays in the mountains with affordable prices.

Canadian blogger Jonathan Rowe wrote on his blog: “I have been to 42 countries but no place has ever moved me as much as Vietnam. I was called – not by the call of luxury tourism – but by the call of people, of simple things and kindness”…

Ms. Bui Thi Le, the owner of a homestay in Pu Luong (Thanh Hoa) said: “Before, it was all Hanoi guests, now Western guests take up nearly half of the rooms. Western guests said they saw on social media people filming terraced fields and highland markets here so they decided to come”…

It is impossible not to mention cuisine in the story of spreading the image of Vietnam. Iced milk coffee, bread, bun cha, fried spring rolls, three-color sweet soup, sugarcane juice, broken rice… are dishes that appear in countless “Vietnam is calling” videos. The food is not only delicious, cheap, and abundant, but also carries within it the story of regional culture, contributing to creating a lively and unique experience.

In addition, according to tourists, some factors that make Vietnam a favorite destination for international tourists include the diversity and attractiveness of its products, from cultural, natural, island, and city tourism to new products such as agricultural, railway, health care, and sports tourism, all of which have great appeal to international tourists. In addition, Vietnam is a country with a stable security and order situation, which is one of the most important factors for international tourists today.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat, Vice President of Hanoi Tourism Association, Vietnam welcomed a strong increase in international tourists in the first half of 2025. To achieve this achievement, there is a significant contribution from the media promoting Vietnam tourism, including the impacts from tourism trends such as “Vietnam is calling”. This trend has gone beyond the scope of social networks, becoming a real travel action. Videos posted by international tourists have effectively promoted Vietnam tourism”.

“Vietnam is calling” is not just a call to travel – it is an invitation from a friendly nation, from enchanting landscapes and from values waiting to be discovered. When the world listens to that invitation, Vietnam is also seizing the opportunity to break through.

Through the travel trend “Vietnam is calling”, it has contributed to effectively promoting Vietnam tourism in a natural, intimate, emotional way and has gradually formed the trend of “traveling to Vietnam all year round”.

According to tourism experts, Vietnam should not miss this opportunity to bring Vietnamese tourism to a new level – associated with the national brand of cultural identity, cuisine, and people. If properly invested, the trend “Vietnam is calling” can become an international campaign like “Amazing Thailand” or “Incredible India”. In addition, it is also necessary to pay attention to ensuring service quality, protecting environment, sustainable community tourism management.

More than ever, this is the time for the tourism industry, local communities and each Vietnamese person to become ambassadors for the image of a beautiful, profound and potential country.

Vietnam welcomes a strong wave of international tourists in the first half of 2025. The tourism industry welcomed nearly 10.7 million international visitors in the first half of the year (an increase of nearly 21% compared to the same period in 2024), reaching about 49% of the target for the whole year of 2025. According to experts, the tourism industry can completely reach the target of about 22 million visitors during the peak tourist season from about September to December.

Linda (news)