Understanding the two-way visitor economy between Australia and Vietnam is vital to fostering sustainable tourism growth, as outlined in the Australian Government’s THRIVE 2030 National Strategy. However, the limited availability and fragmentation of tourism data was preventing stakeholders from gaining integrated insights into visitor profiles, behaviours, and economic impacts. On being engaged by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), researchers from the Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University, facilitated gap identification and the collection of visitor data that is assisting positive change.
The Australian Government’s THRIVE 2030 National Strategy seeks to rebuild and enhance Australia’s visitor economy to pre-COVID levels through stronger collaboration, data-driven insights, and innovative business practices. Aligned with their ambition to deepen engagement with Southeast Asia, a region offering strong potential for reciprocal tourism growth, there is an increasing focus on attracting more visitors from Australia’s key strategic partner, Vietnam.
A research team from the Griffith Institute for Tourism, led by Dr Truc Le and including Associate Professor Sara Thaichon, Professor Sarah Gardiner and Professor Susanne Becken aimed to strengthen bilateral tourism data infrastructure and develop visitor profiles in support of evidence-based policy and sustainable tourism growth in both countries. The researchers were engaged through the Joint Data Project under Strengthening Australia–Vietnam Tourism Cooperation (SAVTC), led by Austrade with the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government.
The project contributed to improvements in data quality and management, survey development and digital tourism systems for agencies including the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism and the General Statistics Office of Vietnam while supporting collaboration between Tourism Research Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics on benchmarking approaches.
The research also addressed limited structured cooperation on tourism analytics by facilitating stronger research–government–industry networks and capability development.
A key deliverable of the project was the Australia-Vietnam Tourism Joint Data Project Final Report and the results were embedded within Austrade’s THRIVE 2030 visitor market development activities and communicated through Vietnamese government tourism channels. The research was also featured at the 2024 Australia–Vietnam Travel Symposium in Melbourne, facilitating dialogue with tourism operators, policymakers, and market intermediaries and strengthening industry uptake of the research findings.
When presented as a case study at the Australia Vietnam Policy Institute Conference 2025 (AVPI25) in Brisbane, the conference Summary Paper identified the project as an example of applied intelligence supporting cooperation, noting that collaboration between the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, General Statistics Office of Vietnam, Tourism Research Australia, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics transformed fragmented datasets into actionable insights and generated a clearer picture of two-way tourism dynamics and competitive positioning.
This acknowledgement provides evidence of the significance of the research and the benefits of research informed discussions on market intelligence, data governance, and evidence-based cooperation between Australia and Vietnam.
Austrade has been collaborating with government and industry partners to raise awareness and build mutual understanding between the Australian and Vietnamese tourism sectors. The SAVTC project is delivering strong commercial trade, investment and policy outcomes through high-quality client-focused services and programs, in line with the government's key priorities.
Xavier Simonet, Austrade CEO, from media release: Australia-Vietnam tourism partnership bearing fruit.
At the industry level, low reliance on official statistics and limited market segmentation among tourism intermediaries shifted toward increased adoption of visitor profiling insights for targeted marketing, service design, and partnership development.
The research adopted a three-stage mixed-methods approach. First, tourism data capabilities in Australia and Vietnam were mapped through desktop analyses, stakeholder consultations, and expert evaluation to identify data gaps and development needs.
Second, two-way visitor profiling was undertaken using secondary quantitative data, benchmarking techniques, and consultations with tourism, travel, and education stakeholders to analyse visitor demographics, behaviours, perceptions, and spending.
Third, stakeholder engagement and expert review informed recommendations for data sharing and capability development. The research integrated government datasets, industry insights, and expert validation to generate evidence-based solutions for improving bilateral tourism intelligence and cooperation.
The two-way visitor profiling undertaken by the project team resulted in a better understanding of tourist motivations and showed that Australian tourists are primarily motivated by Vietnam’s culture, affordability, and culinary experiences but face service quality, language, and infrastructure challenges, while strong regional competitors offer superior service and marketing.
Vietnamese visitors to Australia are concentrated in leisure and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) segments. Leisure travellers perceive limited product excitement and high travel costs, whereas VFR visitors report more positive experiences and higher engagement. Competitor destinations were identified as better aligned with Vietnamese travellers’ preferences, particularly regarding shopping, entertainment, and diverse experiences.
The research sustained dialogue on tourism analytics and bilateral cooperation discussions and the development of ongoing partnerships supporting capability building beyond the project timeframe. The project has been a boundary-spanning initiative that connected institutions and stakeholders, enabling knowledge exchange, reinforcing trust, and supporting longer-term cooperation on tourism data governance and visitor economy development between Australia and Vietnam.
Dr Truc Le and the Visitor Economy Analytics cluster team within the Griffith Institute for Tourism are open to collaborations with governments, communities, academics and organisations. To learn more about Dr Le’s research and her contact details please go to:
This project was commissioned by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).
Detailed reports (in English and Vietnamese) can be found on the Griffith Institute for Tourism website.
Photo acknowledgements: Banner photo by Ryan Le (Unsplash); Quote box photo by e~lane (Unsplash).
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