International tourism gradually returns to orbit
In the first six months of 2023, Quang Nam welcomed nearly 2.1 million international visitors. This is quite an impressive number and is close to the level of more than 2.5 million in the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Compared to the whole country, Quang Nam is in the leading group in terms of international tourism recovery. After 2020, although there is a view on repositioning the balance of the two international and domestic markets, the reality shows that international tourism will likely still be the "trump card" to help Quang Nam tourism recover and develop.
Statistics show that the group of top 10 international tourist markets of Quang Nam is quite stable compared to the time before the COVID-19 pandemic, which affirms the brand of local tourism with international visitors.
The only emerging market to "squeeze" into the top 10 largest international tourist markets in Quang Nam in the first half of 2023 is India, a market also identified as having great potential and the tourism industry is working with the Central localities to promote the exploitation of this market.
The good recovery of the international tourist market in the first half of 2023, in addition to the special attraction of Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Temple Complex, also has the contribution of promotional activities suitable to the new context such as: welcoming international famtrip and presstrip delegations from Singapore, South Africa, and Japan to visit, survey, and experience new and attractive tourism products in Quang Nam; welcoming film crews to produce the programs "Vivu Vietnam", "Vietnamese Flavors", "Around Vietnam - A Vietnamese Region", "Discover Vietnam - Heritage Route", "Quang Nam Green Tourism Documentary"; coordinating to publish the "Exciting Asia" column for Asian Traveller magazine with articles introducing destinations Hoi An, My Son, etc.
Quang Nam has just organized a tourism introduction program and signed a cooperation agreement to develop tourism in Korea - Quang Nam's largest international tourism market at present.
At the end of June, the major "bottleneck" of the national tourism industry was resolved when the National Assembly agreed to extend the validity of electronic visas from 30 days to 90 days, valid for multiple entries; and increase the temporary residence period at the border gate for people entering under unilateral visa exemption from 15 days to 45 days.
According to many tourism businesses, when applying e-visas with multiple entries, tourists will be proactive in their time and travel schedule, especially those from distant markets. Quang Nam is considered to be in the group of localities that benefit the most from this policy because the province's tourism structure has long depended heavily on international visitors.
Seize the opportunity
According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in addition to the tourism introduction program and the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement to promote tourism in Korea that took place at the end of July, from now until the end of the year, the Quang Nam tourism industry will continue to organize many important activities to attract international visitors.
Notably, there are tourism promotion programs in India, Malaysia, Singapore; Quang Nam tourism introduction program in Laos, Thailand; organizing cultural - tourism days and introducing Quang Nam OCOP products in Can Tho within the framework of the VITM Can Tho 2023 International Tourism Fair; organizing a conference on tourism development linkage of 5 localities: Quang Nam - Da Nang - Thua Thien Hue - Quang Binh - Quang Tri...
My Son tourism has made an impressive recovery thanks to the return of international visitors.
Citadines Pearl Hoi An representative said that in the promotion work, it is necessary to clearly identify the customer market that Quang Nam needs to target in order to have effective marketing solutions, avoid waste and miss out on potential markets suitable for Quang Nam.
According to the representative of Vinpearl Nam Hoi An management, the tourism products of the Quang Nam - Da Nang market are very diverse, what needs to be done when promoting is to select which products and segments are suitable for each market channel. In addition, there needs to be a resonance between units to create a unique service chain.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposed that competent authorities should consider continuing to expand and diversify markets with the potential for rapid growth, large sources of visitors with high spending and long-term stays.
In addition to the group of 13 countries that have applied unilateral visa exemption policies, it is necessary to study and add 33 countries with unilateral visa exemptions to speed up the recovery process of international tourism. In the above group of countries, there are many traditional markets as well as very potential markets for Quang Nam tourism such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc.
