In mid-March, Vietnamese aviation returned to international skies.
Since March 15, Vietnam has reopened to international visitors without requiring quarantine. Regular international flights have been widely available and serve all passengers wishing to enter and exit Vietnam. With the growth forecast scenario for this year from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, on average, aviation is expected to welcome about 42-43 million passengers, reaching more than 50% compared to 2019. Of these, about 8 million are expected to be international passengers, including 6 million tourists.
Information from Turkish Airlines - The Turkish national airline with a representative office in Vietnam has resumed flights from Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi to Istanbul and vice versa since October last year, with a frequency of 2 flights per week. From February 2022, the airline has been licensed to bring Vietnamese citizens abroad back to the country. Operating in the new normal period, Turkish Airlines has recorded positive signs and at the same time planned to increase flight frequency to serve the travel needs of passengers - said Mr. Erkan Ince, General Director of Turkish Airlines Vietnam.
Since the regular international flights have been put into operation, the number of Vietnamese outbound tourists has also started to increase again. They now tend to choose destinations with clear visa policies, short flights and safe epidemic control. It is expected that from April 15, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health will start issuing vaccine passports to citizens with full vaccination information and enough shots, without having to carry out any other procedures.
Easy tourist entry but still few international visitors?!
According to data from the General Statistics Office, the number of international visitors to Vietnam (inbound) in March 2022 reached 41.7 thousand, mainly by air. This number has not met the expectations of tourism service providers. When operating at the opening time, businesses mainly welcomed groups of foreign investors and experts traveling for work, Vietnamese tourists flying abroad or overseas Vietnamese returning home, etc. They have been waiting for 2 long years to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic. Meanwhile, the season to welcome international visitors will start from October this year to April next year. In addition, the market and behavior of international tourists have also changed completely.
According to many experts, the time Vietnam reopens tourism (March 15) is still slow compared to some countries in the Southeast Asian region. A representative of a travel company in Ho Chi Minh City is worried about the decrease in competitiveness when Vietnam has only exempted visas for tourists from 13 countries with a temporary stay of 15 days from the date of entry. Meanwhile, neighboring countries such as Thailand have exempted visas for tourists from 64 countries and territories, this number in Indonesia is 70, the Philippines has reached nearly 160.
Businesses want the length of stay for international visitors to increase to 30-45 days, and allow multiple entries during the trip. Because currently, tourists leaving Vietnam for neighboring countries cannot return. This regulation causes Vietnam to lose its advantage of becoming an aviation and long-haul tourism hub in Southeast Asia. In addition, having to complete visa procedures and pay high additional fees also makes many international visitors reluctant to come.
From an expert perspective, Dr. Bui Doan Ne - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Aviation Business Association, said that most airlines are facing many difficult problems due to escalating fuel prices, scarcity of high-quality human resources, rising costs for trade promotion, etc. In particular, two key markets, Russia and China, still have demand for tourism in Vietnam, but airlines cannot take off when the host country's government has not yet or has just loosened regulations.
The situation between Russia and Ukraine is still tense, the ruble has lost value and has been removed from the international payment system SWIFT, etc. The Russian government has advised airlines to limit flights abroad. Since March 25, airlines have been forced to temporarily suspend regular flights between Hanoi and Moscow, and travel agencies have also temporarily stopped taking Russian tourists to Vietnam on charter flights. Although after April 9, Russia has resumed flights to 52 "friendly" countries, including Vietnam. However, many businesses predict that Russian tourists will be able to travel normally again by the end of this year or early next year at the earliest due to economic difficulties.
Flights connecting Europe and Vietnam have to take detours, increasing the time by 1-2 hours per flight compared to flying through Russian airspace, resulting in increased insurance, payment, and maintenance costs.
China, in particular, is still pursuing a "Zero Covid" policy until at least the end of this year, even though vaccines have been available to the public since late 2020. According to Chinese officials, vaccines alone are not enough to prevent the pandemic and strict measures must still be maintained to avoid risks to the health system. A representative of a travel company in Nha Trang said that opening up tourism makes them excited, but it will be difficult if there are still no Chinese tourists.
"Keeping the wings" of aviation, creating momentum to "rescue" inbound tourism
According to Dr. Bui Doan Ne, the financial situation is difficult due to the prolonged epidemic, the investment and development capacity of airlines and travel companies at the time of reopening tourism is still weak. In order for aviation to truly "keep its wings", it is necessary for the Government and the banking system to continue to take measures to remove obstacles, support the expansion of medium and long-term credit programs, creating conditions for airlines to continue to maintain and restore financial resources in the new normal period of 2022.
At the same time, the Government continues to focus on investing in infrastructure in sync with the needs of aviation, tourism and other economic sectors. Investment in upgrading and expanding air traffic connections with the road system needs to be more urgent, attracting private sectors to participate in investing in international and local airport terminals.
After a month of reopening, the tourism industry in many localities has become vibrant again with many promotional activities to attract international tourists. Up to now, many airlines and travel companies have joined hands to connect localities to restore normal tourist reception activities as before the pandemic. Specifically, the parties have coordinated to organize events to promote the image of safe, friendly and attractive destinations to some key markets such as Northeast Asia, North America, Europe and Australia.
Airlines continue to deploy information connection systems, sharing passenger data with hotels, medical systems, and travel agencies to improve passenger experiences following the contactless trend that has been popular since the pandemic broke out. At the same time, airlines join hands with service providers and online platforms to open tours or combos at economical prices. At the same time, the parties quickly update visa procedures and travel instructions for tourists to Vietnam to be convenient and safe as before the pandemic.
