Europe’s summer postcard — complete with gondola rides in Venice, cafés in Paris and alpine train journeys through Switzerland — is no longer the default holiday aspiration for Indian travellers.
Taking over Instagram feeds and travel wishlists, instead, are lantern-lit streets in Hoi An, rooftop cafés in Hanoi, beach resorts in Da Nang and night markets in Ho Chi Minh City.
Behind that diversification lies a mix of economics, geopolitics and convenience that is quietly reshaping India’s outbound travel map.
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Longer flight durations linked to West Asia airspace disruptions, elevated airfares on several Europe-bound routes and a growing appetite for shorter international holidays are nudging Indian tourists toward Southeast Asia, with Vietnam emerging as one of the biggest winners of the shift.
Travel companies and airlines say the trend has intensified over the past year, turning Vietnam from a relatively niche destination into one of the fastest-growing international markets for Indian outbound tourism.
The numbers reflect that momentum clearly. Vietnam received nearly 8.8 million international visitors in the first four months of 2026, up 14.6% from a year earlier, according to the country’s latest tourism data. Indian arrivals rose far faster. More than 324,000 Indians visited Vietnam between January and April this year — a 59.1% jump over the same period last year — making India one of Vietnam’s fastest-growing major tourism source markets.
India’s growth rate has significantly outpaced Vietnam’s broader tourism recovery. While total international arrivals grew 14.6% during the period, Indian visitor growth was more than four times higher, underlining how rapidly Vietnam is climbing Indian travel wishlists.
“We have witnessed strong growth in flight and holiday bookings for Vietnam over the past few seasons, reflecting the increasing interest among Indian travellers in short-to-medium haul international destinations,” Rikant Pittie, CEO and co-founder of EaseMyTrip , told ET Online .
