Tourism breakthrough within reach

There are a number of reasons why the number of international visitors to Vietnam has not yet reached expectations, although the tourism sector has made great efforts to prepare for the reopening of the international tourism market.

The connection and exploitation of new markets and potential markets have not been active. The implementation of activities to promote and provide information about Vietnam’s tourism to the world has not been carried out in a regular and continuous manner.

Secondly, the visa policy has made many innovations and progress, but compared to other countries, it is still modest.

Thirdly, tourism products have not caught up with the current trend of the world, and have not taken advantage of natural resources, especially cultural resources. The development of advantageous tourism products in Vietnam has not been paid attention to, and has not yet approached the needs of tourists.

In addition, human resources for tourism have been lacking since the pandemic, with a shortage of skilled and experienced workers. The effectiveness of links between regions, localities and industries is also still low, and many joint activities are still formal. Tourism products are not really diversified or attractive enough to some tourist markets in the new context.

The tourism sector aims to welcome eight million international tourists and 102 million domestic tourists in 2023, with a total revenue of about $28.2 billion.

We have also issued a marketing strategy on Vietnam’s tourism development to 2030. Most recently the ministry held the ASEAN Tourism Forum and Travel Exchange Fair in Indonesia and ITB Berlin Fair 2023 in Germany, with 700 MoUs signed and negotiations held between the Vietnamese business community, tour operators, and international friends to commit and bring international visitors to Vietnam.

In order to realise the commitment to bring high-class service and excellent experience, the constant development of new products combining relaxation, entertainment, discovery and attractive sports is required meet the diverse needs of visitors.

Vinpearl, belonging to Vingroup, is a pioneering enterprise and actively responds to the development policies and solutions of the government and the tourism industry. We currently have 45 facilities in 17 provinces and cities nationwide, with room capacity of over 18,500 hotel rooms and villas. We also offer new products to catch up with world trends such as wellness, 5-star resort travel, and the events industry.

In addition to a methodical investment strategy in products and services, Vinpearl also actively develops potential international tourist markets, creating a new driving force for Vietnam’s tourism.

In the past, in addition to traditional markets, Vinpearl has begun to exploit new sources of visitors from South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand and has achieved positive results thus far.

We hope that with the efforts of Vinpearl and businesses to diversify and renew products, it will contribute to bringing Vietnam’s tourism to a new level.

In the first two months of 2023, domestic air transport increased by 12.5 per cent compared to 2020, which is a good indicator, continuing the growth momentum in 2022. International air transport by the end of February 2023 is also much better than in 2022, returning to 64 per cent compared to before the pandemic.

Vietnamese airlines have now reopened all international routes, including new routes to the likes of India and the US However, international tourists are still low in number, so the utilisation factor of Vietnamese airlines on international routes is only around 60-65 per cent.

Therefore, aviation needs to have a strong and close association with the tourism industry, and needs a unified, methodical, and long-term strategy. We recommend that there should be a solution to welcome tourists with an open entry and exit policy and develop a national tourism initiative.

We are organising many activities to promote Vietnam’s tourism in 2023, taking advantage of the opportunity to celebrate diplomatic relation milestones between Vietnam and many countries around the world, such as Japan.

The loosened immigration policies in key markets of South Korea and Japan have resulted in numerous tourists visiting Vietnam, with over 763,000 South Korean visitors and 146,600 Japanese visitors in 2022. China’s recent reopening could also soon lead to a rapid increase in the number of Northeastern Asia tourists in 2023.

Due to the continuous opening of new direct flights and fascinating tourism promotion activities from the Vietnamese tourism board and embassies, target markets like India and the Middle East are expected to grow rapidly.

However, even though the pandemic has gradually recovered, the threat of global recession persists, which will have a direct impact on the Vietnamese tourism industry. Therefore, the tourism and hospitality industry needs to prepare strategic plans for any downturn situation in order to reduce business economic losses.

With the purpose of creating the most favourable conditions for international visitors to Vietnam, Vietravel proposes several suggestions related to Vietnam’s visa policy. It should consider increasing the visa exemption period for visa-exempt countries from 15 days to 30 days. It could also expand the visa exemption policy to the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and other targeted markets. Consideration can also be given to extending the e-visa policy to markets like Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, and Israel.

BRG Group currently operates many world-class hotels and resorts and is managed by the world’s top international corporations. We also have the strength of combining hotel tourism with golf. Therefore, our main target now is tourists with a pay rate 2-3 times higher than the average rate of international tourists coming to Vietnam, from $200-300/day and usually staying 3-4 days.

If revenue is taken into account, 10 per cent VAT and 20 per cent excise tax according to Vietnam’s current regulations is high compared to the rate of 5-7 per cent of other countries in the region. We hope the government will study this to adjust this tax rate accordingly to attract more tourists.

Besides that, the tourism sector needs to diversify products and improve the quality of tourism services to bring high efficiency.

In 2022, BRG Group’s hotels welcomed 652,000 guests, and in 2023 we want to welcome 1 million luxury guests. Last year, 300,000 rounds of golf were played on BRG courses, and the target for 2023 is 380,000 rounds.

Priority should be given to investment in infrastructure development, building cultural and tourism identities for each locality and each region. As for the visa issue, we suggest increasing the duration from 2 to 4 weeks for guests who have more time to travel and want to spend more money.

We are cautiously optimistic to see how tourism will gradually recover. We also appreciate the Vietnamese government’s effort to help accelerate the recovery of the tourism sector.

Traveloka’s internal data captured a positive trend during the Black Friday campaign recently. The total transaction volume on the platform increased by 1.5 times compared to the previous month; the volume of hotel bookings and the number of Xperience tickets sold also increased by 1.5 times.

The campaign also attracted the participation of more than 1,000 partners, of which hotel partners recorded a 2.5-fold rise in total bookings compared to October 2022. At the same time, the outbound travel trend is returning more confidently through the number of bookings to foreign destinations increasing by 1.5 times compared to the previous month.

Therefore, Traveloka will continue to collaborate with various provincial tourism boards to attract both domestic and international tourists to come to Vietnam and enjoy various travel attractions in local destinations.

Traveloka will also continue to encourage stakeholders to work together and ensure a sustainable growth of local tourism. We have demonstrated commitment in the tourism revival in Vietnam by forming strategic partnerships with tourism departments in Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Kien Giang province, and Haiphong, for example, to promote local destinations and enhance tourists’ travel experience.