Vietnam’s tourism growing strongly

The greatest contributors to tourism were honoured at the Vietnam Tourism Awards

Over the past three years, the tourism industry has been growing at an annual rate of 30 per cent in terms of international arrivals. By the end of 2017, the total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to tourism was estimated at more than $15 billion, accounting for over 5 per cent of the country’s total registered FDI amount.

In the first half of 2018, international visitors to Vietnam reached nearly eight million, growing by 27.2 per cent over the same period last year, and the total tourism revenue was estimated at VND312 trillion ($14.2 billion), representing an increase of 22.5 per cent over the same period last year.

Visitors from Asian countries increased by 32.7 per cent on-year. Tourist arrivals from Europe, Australia, and Africa increased by 11 per cent, 13.5 per cent, and 22.2 per cent, respectively.

To serve this increasing demand, the tourism service sector has also shown strong growth. To date, nearly 2,000 international travel agencies and over 25,600 accommodation facilities with a total of 508,000 rooms are available across the country. Of these, the three- to five-star hotels offer 863 facilities with 101,400 rooms. Over 21,000 tour guides have been licensed. Tourism creates jobs and provides direct incomes for some 2.5 million people.

According to Nguyen Van Tuan, general director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), “Vietnam’s tourism sector is developing at an astonishing rate, with an influx of investment in luxury tourism products, including leisure tourism, sea tourism, mountain retreats, and golf. With the appearance of such world-leading hotel management groups as Accor, IHG, JW Marriott, Hilton, Melia, and others, the image and prestige of Vietnam’s tourism sector is changing rapidly in positive ways, helping to define the country on the world map as an attractive tourism destination.”

The industry has won various prestigious international tourism awards. For the first time, Vietnam was ranked sixth in the Top 10 fastest-growing tourist destinations in 2017. The tourism business community, with enthusiasm and creativity, has also contributed to enhancing Vietnam’s tourism sector on the international scene with a series of prestigious international awards.

These are the basis for the industry to confidently achieve the 2018 target to welcome 15-17 million international tourists with a total revenue of about VND628 trillion ($28.6 billion). The sector will also focus on turning Vietnam into a safe and friendly destination while improving quality of services.

Commenting at last week’s Vietnam Tourism Awards ceremony hosted to honour the best tourism businesses, investors, and individuals promoting Vietnam’s tourism, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien said, “I believe that the tourism industry in Vietnam will continue developing and quickly realise the goal of becoming a major industry, contributing to making Vietnam a friendly and attractive destination, affirming the position of the tourism industry on the regional and world tourism map”.

At the 2018 ceremony, on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of the Vietnamese tourism industry, 85 enterprises in the categories of travel, hotel, transportation, restaurant, golf courses, and tourism investors were highlighted. The awards include Top 10 leading travel firms welcoming international visitors to Vietnam; 15 best five-star hotels; 15 best four-star hotels; and Top 30 transportation companies, restaurants, and destinations. The Top 5 tourism investment groups–Vinpearl, Sun Group, Muong Thanh Hospitality, FLC Group, and Thien Minh Group–were lauded for their great contributions to the development of tourism.

The ceremony also awarded prizes to the 12 best articles as part of the Vietnam Timeless Charm writing contest hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and Labour Newspaper.

VIR’s reporter Nguyen Thi Duc Hanh won First Prize with her article on the beauty of the northwest mountainous area under the title “Supermarket in the wild nature”. The “I Love Vietnam” award was granted to UK writer Lana O’Sullivan for her article on Vietnamese tourism under the title “Vietnam in a Nutshell”.