A London gala has just given travellers another reason to keep Vietnam on their radar. The Vietnam International Awards (VIAwards), held on 7 November under the banner Vietnam Forward: Vision – Impact – Alliance, marked its fifth anniversary with 200 guests from 12 countries, and the honours list reads like a map of everything that makes the country tick — healthcare, education, hospitality, the arts and digital storytelling.
The night's most unusual moment was a genuine tie. After two rounds of judging, Professor Michelle Hermiston of VinUniversity's College of Health Sciences and Katrin Kandel of the charity Facing the World scored identically in the Healthcare category, so the panel handed both women the award. It's a neat snapshot of how international medical cooperation in Vietnam now spans everything from training the next generation of doctors to funding specialist care for children.
There was a double celebration too. German-Vietnamese writer and activist Isabelle Müller walked away with the People's Choice Award for her own community work, while her LOAN Foundation — an educational charity supporting disadvantaged children in Vietnam — took the Education Award. Meanwhile, VietQ Media's Johnny Dung Nguyen picked up Content Creator of the Year, one of two new categories introduced for the anniversary, reflecting how Vietnamese creators abroad are shaping how the world sees the country.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Warwick Morris OBE, a former British Ambassador to Vietnam who co-founded the Vietnam-UK Network, a reminder of how deep the bilateral ties now run. The gala itself leaned into culture, with Vietnamese performances, networking across business, academia and the arts, and charity auctions funding community projects. A healthcare conference at University College London ran alongside, covering cancer treatment, AI in medicine and UK-Vietnam investment.
The scale of the programme has grown quickly. Founded in the UK in 2022, VIAwards drew more than 140 applications this year, with 95 eligible entries from 15 countries competing across 12 categories — including hospitality, which should interest anyone who has noticed the leaps in quality at Vietnam's hotels and restaurants over the past decade.
Why should a traveller care? Partly because these awards are a barometer of the people and organisations investing in Vietnam's future — the schools, clinics, hotels and creative voices that shape what a visit actually feels like in 2026. And partly because Vietnam itself remains one of Southeast Asia's best-value, most rewarding trips: street food in Hanoi, lantern-lit Hoi An, the limestone towers of Ha Long Bay and a coffee culture that rivals anywhere. A country with this many international friends is only getting easier and more interesting to explore.
