For many travelers, choosing a vacation starts with beaches, famous landmarks, hotel prices, or the promise of good weather. For a growing number of Vietnamese travelers, however, another question is moving much closer to the top of the list: What are we going to eat?
Vietnamese travelers have ranked among Asia’s most enthusiastic food-focused tourists, according to findings from digital travel platform Agoda. In its 2026 Travel Outlook Report, 35% of Vietnamese respondents said culinary experiences were a key reason for traveling, putting Vietnam second among the Asian markets included in Agoda’s foodie ranking.
Only travelers from Taiwan ranked higher, with 47% saying food played an important role in their travel decisions.
The results suggest that for many Vietnamese tourists, eating abroad is no longer simply something that happens between sightseeing stops. The restaurant, market, street-food stall, or neighborhood specialty can increasingly become part of the reason for taking the trip in the first place.
Vietnam Ranks Second, Just Behind Taiwan
Agoda’s ranking placed Taiwanese travelers comfortably at the top, with 47% identifying culinary experiences as an important motivation for travel.
Vietnam followed at 35%, narrowly ahead of South Korea at 34%.
Malaysia came next at 33%, followed by Japan at 32%, Indonesia at 31%, Thailand at 20%, and India at 8%.
Those percentages do not mean that 35% of all Vietnamese people travel primarily to eat. Rather, they reflect how respondents in Agoda’s survey described their travel priorities.
That distinction matters, but the overall pattern is still striking. Vietnamese respondents were among the travelers most likely to say that food influences where they want to go.
The findings came from Agoda’s wider 2026 Travel Outlook research. The company surveyed 3,353 respondents across nine Asian markets in October 2025, including Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, India and the Philip.
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Food Has Become a Bigger Reason to Travel
Vietnam’s second-place finish reflects a broader shift in how Asian travelers plan vacations.
According to Agoda, culinary experiences climbed into the top three travel motivations in its 2026 research after ranking sixth the previous year.
That shift helps explain why food-focused tourism has become so visible across Asia.
Travelers are not necessarily satisfied with simply eating whatever is close to their hotel. Some are deliberately searching for destinations known for street food, regional specialties, traditional markets, and restaurants that offer something they cannot easily experience at home.
On that kind of trip, dinner isn’t an afterthought. It can be an attraction.
A bowl of noodles from a neighborhood shop, a crowded night market, a cooking class, or a dish associated with one particular city can become as memorable as visiting a monument or taking a scenic tour.
Andrew Smith, Agoda’s senior vice president of supply, described food as a way travelers can connect with destinations and local cultures. Agoda has said growing interest in culinary travel is affecting decisions about where travelers go, what they do, and even where they stay.
Vietnamese Travelers Are Following Their Appetites Abroad
More recent Agoda search data offers another clue about what food-minded Vietnamese travelers want and are.
For travel during July and August 2026, Agoda examined accommodation searches made by Vietnamese travelers between April 1 and June 30. The five leading international destinations in those searches were Asian cities with established food cultures.
Bangkok ranked first.
That city offers travelers everything from busy neighborhood food stalls to markets, restaurants, and dishes associated with northern and central Thai cuisine.
Singapore ranked second, offering its well-known hawker culture and a mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Peranakan culinary influences.
Seoul and Tokyo followed in third and fourth place, according to Agoda, giving Vietnamese travelers access to two more destinations where eating can easily become a major part of a city break.
The connection does not prove travelers chose those destinations solely for the food. Price, flights, shopping, entertainment, and cultural attractions can all influence demand. Still, the popularity of major Asian food cities lines up closely with Agoda’s finding that 35% of Vietnamese respondents see cuisine as an important travel motivation.
Vietnam’s Own Food Culture May Help Explain the Interest
It is not difficult to see why travelers from Vietnam might pay close attention to what is on the plate.
Food occupies a highly visible place in everyday life across Vietnamese cities and regions. Markets, small restaurants, street vendors and family-run businesses can turn relatively simple meals into deeply local experiences.
Regional differences matter too.
A traveler moving through Vietnam can encounter noticeably different dishes, ingredients, and preparations from one part of the country to another. That familiarity with regional food identity may make Vietnamese travelers especially receptive to looking for similar local distinctions when they go overseas.
Someone visiting Japan may want to discover dishes associated with a particular city. A trip to South Korea can include traditional markets alongside sightseeing. In Thailand, trying local noodles or desserts can become part of exploring the destination rather than merely stopping for lunch.
That style of travel turns food into a form of cultural exploration.
Agoda’s Vietnam market profile also found that cultural exploration ranked among Vietnamese travelers’ top motivations, alongside relaxation and culinary experiences. It also reported that Vietnamese respondents were particularly interested in exploring new destinations.
Those motivations can naturally overlap. Trying a local specialty is often one of the easiest ways for a visitor to experience something distinctive about a place.
Budget Still Matters
Being passionate about food does not necessarily mean Vietnamese travelers are looking only for expensive restaurants.
Agoda’s 2026 Vietnam profile suggests value remains an important part of travel planning.
More than half of surveyed Vietnamese travelers (56%) said they planned to spend $50 or less per night on accommodations, while another 36% expected to spend between $51 and $100.
That preference for value could fit particularly well with food-focused travel in Asia, where memorable meals can be found in many settings, from neighborhood restaurants and traditional markets to hawker centers and street stalls.
In other words, culinary travel does not have to mean fine dining.
For some travelers, the most memorable food experience may be a famous restaurant. For others, it could be breakfast at a market, noodles from a busy local shop, or discovering a dish they had never heard of before arriving.
The Asian Vacation Is Becoming More About Experience
The larger takeaway from Agoda’s findings may be less about who wins the title of Asia’s biggest foodie and more about how travelers are changing their priorities.
A vacation used to be marketed primarily around famous sights, beaches, and hotels. Those things still matter, but travelers increasingly want experiences that make a destination feel distinctive.
Food does that particularly well.
It can introduce visitors to local traditions, ingredients, neighborhoods and everyday routines in a way that sightseeing alone sometimes cannot.
For Vietnamese travelers, that connection appears especially powerful.
With 35% naming food as a key reason for travel, Vietnam sits just behind Taiwan and ahead of every other market in Agoda’s ranking.
So the next time a Vietnamese traveler begins planning an Asian getaway, the first search may not be for the most famous attraction.
It may be for what everyone is eating when they get there.
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