More news on this day
Ho Chi Minh City’s Saigontourist Culinary Culture and Delicacies Festival is emerging as one of Asia’s hottest gourmet gatherings in 2026, with new momentum from South Korean travelers joining visitors from China, Japan, the United States and Singapore, and early signals of surging bookings for Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet and Emirates on key routes into the southern hub.
Get the latest news straight to your inbox!
Festival Builds On Award Winning Momentum
The Saigontourist Group Culinary Culture and Delicacies Festival has rapidly evolved from a domestic showcase into a headline event on the international food calendar. Earlier editions in 2024 and 2025 at Ho Chi Minh City’s Van Thanh Tourist Area drew tens of thousands of visitors and hundreds of signature Vietnamese dishes, helping the event secure multiple honors from regional and global culinary award bodies for both Asia’s and the world’s best culinary festival.
Publicly available information on recent editions indicates that the 2025 festival hosted more than 70,000 attendees over four days, with a program spanning regional specialties, craft village demonstrations and performances highlighting Vietnam’s three culinary regions. Organizers have widely promoted the festival as a key platform for Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism sector, positioning it alongside major food events in Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
For 2026, promotional materials emphasize an expanded international footprint, building on Saigontourist’s overseas spin off events in Osaka and Singapore that tested demand in key source markets. These efforts are understood to be feeding back into the flagship Ho Chi Minh City festival, where stakeholders expect higher numbers of foreign visitors and longer average stays.
South Korea Joins Regional Heavyweights In Visitor Mix
China has re emerged as Vietnam’s largest inbound market in the post pandemic recovery, followed closely by markets such as South Korea, Japan, the United States and Singapore. Sector data released through national tourism reports for 2024 and early 2025 shows that these five markets consistently rank among the top sources of international arrivals to Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh City capturing a significant share thanks to its air connectivity and urban experiences.
In this context, travel industry tracking for early 2026 points to growing interest from South Korean travelers in food focused itineraries built around major events in Vietnam. Package descriptions and trade reports highlight new marketing pushes in Seoul and Busan that feature Ho Chi Minh City’s street food, coffee culture and festival calendar, with the Saigontourist culinary event often singled out as a flagship draw for spring and early summer travel.
Japan, Singapore, China and the United States remain established contributors, with previous Saigontourist led food festivals in Osaka and Singapore helping to raise awareness of Ho Chi Minh City’s culinary scene in those markets. Travel agencies in these countries are promoting multi stop trips that pair the festival with beach destinations such as Phu Quoc and Da Nang, further amplifying Vietnam’s profile as a regional food tourism hub.
Airlines Report Strong Search And Booking Activity
On the aviation side, publicly accessible booking trend data and online search analytics for early 2026 suggest that demand is accelerating on routes feeding into Ho Chi Minh City around the expected festival window. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet, which dominate domestic and regional connectivity into Tan Son Nhat International Airport, are showing spikes in interest from major East Asian gateways including Seoul, Busan, Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore.
Emirates, which links Ho Chi Minh City to long haul markets via its Dubai hub, is also seeing heightened activity on itineraries originating in North America and Europe with stopovers in the Gulf before continuing to Vietnam. Routing patterns indicate that travelers from cities such as New York, Toronto and London are increasingly combining long haul flights with regional connectors operated by Vietnam Airlines or Vietjet to time their arrivals with the festival period.
While precise booking figures are not disclosed in real time, travel platforms monitoring fare searches and seat availability point to tightening inventory on popular dates in late March and early April 2026. Analysts interpreting these patterns note that large scale events such as the Saigontourist culinary festival tend to create short booking spikes that ripple across both regional and long haul networks serving Ho Chi Minh City.
Luxury Hotels In Ho Chi Minh City Tighten Availability
Hotel data aggregators tracking Ho Chi Minh City’s upscale segment show that four and five star properties are entering 2026 with stronger forward bookings than in previous years, particularly in districts close to the city center and along major riverside corridors. Many of these hotels are part of the Saigontourist network or have collaborated with the group on festival related programming, positioning them as preferred options for inbound food travelers.
Inquiries logged by online travel agencies reveal that room availability around the anticipated festival dates is already limited at several luxury addresses. Dynamic pricing patterns indicate that nightly rates are edging higher as inventory tightens, with some properties reported to be effectively sold out on peak nights for certain room categories. This is consistent with trends seen in 2024 and 2025, when domestic media noted crowding at the festival grounds and heavy demand for centrally located accommodation.
Serviced apartments and boutique hotels are absorbing some of the overflow, but hospitality consultants tracking the market say that many late bookers are being pushed to properties further from the festival venue. This is increasing interest in shuttle services, ride hailing options and metro connections as visitors seek efficient ways to move between hotels, food events and popular nightlife districts.
Culinary Tourism Cements Vietnam As A Regional Hub
The emerging picture for 2026 suggests that Vietnam’s broader tourism strategy is benefiting significantly from the Saigontourist Culinary Culture and Delicacies Festival. International recognition from culinary award programs in recent years has reinforced the country’s image as a food destination, while the rollout of simplified e visa policies and expanded air links has lowered barriers to entry for regional and long haul visitors.
Travel trade publications describe a growing preference among younger travelers from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, China and the United States for experiences that combine food, culture and nightlife within compact city breaks. Ho Chi Minh City’s dense network of street food alleys, new generation coffee shops and rooftop bars, anchored by marquee events such as the Saigontourist festival, aligns closely with this demand.
With major airlines reporting stronger searches and bookings, and luxury hotels signaling near full occupancy around key dates, the 2026 edition of the Saigontourist culinary festival appears poised to set new benchmarks for visitor numbers and international visibility. Industry observers will be watching closely to see how this momentum carries into subsequent editions and how Vietnam continues to leverage its culinary strengths to compete with other regional food capitals.