According to the General Statistics Office, in the first 6 months of 2022, the number of international visitors to Vietnam reached 602,000, down 92.9% over the same period in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sharing about this issue, General Director of Fiditour Travel Joint Stock Company Tran The Dung said that after 3 months of tourism opening to welcome international visitors, the number of international visitors to Vietnam is mainly small groups or people traveling for business combined with tourism in Vietnam, there are absolutely no large groups of visitors. Besides, Vietnam tourism has also lost some key markets such as Russia and China... due to the epidemic situation and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Along with that, Mr. Phung Quang Thang - Vice President of Vietnam Tourism Association said that in 2019, Vietnam welcomed nearly 18.1 million international visitors. At that time, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China), accounted for about 66% of tourists coming to Vietnam. But after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, these markets were all closed, currently only South Korea has gradually reopened to the inbound and outbound market, the Japanese market is selective about customers, especially China has not yet allowed people to travel.
International tourists visit Hoi An, Quang Nam
“Only when traditional markets in Northeast Asia fully reopen can Vietnam's tourism industry recover,” Mr. Phung Quang Thang stated.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism Tran Trung Hieu said that normally, the peak season for international visitors to Vietnam falls from October of the previous year to March of the following year. Moreover, international visitors from high-spending markets such as Europe, the US, Japan, Australia, etc. have the characteristic of planning and preparing for a long time. Vietnam has just opened so tourists will need time to monitor. This is one of the reasons why the number of international tourists to Vietnam has not recovered as expected.
Breakthrough visa policy needed
In reality, experts, managers, and tourism businesses see that to attract international visitors to Vietnam after opening up, there are many issues that need attention such as visa stories, tourism products, human resources, promotion, etc.
Accordingly, Lux Group Chairman Pham Ha said that to attract international visitors, there needs to be a breakthrough visa policy to develop tourism in the new normal state. Specifically, to facilitate visitors, it is necessary to implement friendly visas, get visas online easily, simpler than visa on arrival (VOA), airports should welcome VIPs and introduce visitors to buy additional high-end services such as visa fast track... visitors will feel welcomed and pay when they deserve it. Right now, 13 countries have exempted visas for 15 days/1 time, so it should be expanded to 30 days, multiple entries and exits, visa exemption for target markets. It should be noted that 3-month, 6-month or 1-year visas are for retired visitors who want to relax in Vietnam, stay longer and spend more.
“We value the tourism economy and tourists, so in the future we need to unilaterally exempt all those who want to visit Vietnam. Visa policy is the first and most specific of the key tourism economic sector if Vietnam wants to become a tourist country,” Mr. Ha expressed.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the reasons why the number of international visitors to Vietnam has not been as expected is due to the "reluctance" to travel outside the border.
At the same time, Mr. Pham Ha also emphasized that, in addition to the institutional issues of opening up policies to attract tourists and refunding VAT for tourists, Vietnam also needs to focus on creating new tourism products, diversifying products, developing typical products such as overnight stays on cruises in Ha Long Bay, cruising on the Red River and Mekong River. In particular, it is necessary to avoid dependence on tourist sources like before. In particular, focusing on quality tourism human resources and effective promotion.
“If visitors come to Vietnam easily, have more fun, feel more emotional, more satisfied, and more memorable, they will come more often and return more often. That is a top marketing strategy that Vietnam is not taking advantage of well,” said the Chairman of Lux Group.
According to managers, to attract international tourists to Vietnam, in addition to support from the State, tourism businesses also need to supplement human resources, train on-site the existing workforce to upgrade service quality. In addition, there needs to be a plan to build new products, upgrade old products, and bring new experiences to tourists.
Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh stated that businesses need to promote tourism to potential markets such as Europe, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. At the same time, they need to increase the application of technology to increase the attractiveness of destinations and tourism products.
Currently, Vietnam has to compete with many Southeast Asian countries that have opened their doors to international tourists and always have policies to attract international tourists. If we do not create favorable conditions, it will be difficult to attract international tourists to Vietnam.
