Lessons from sustainable tourism and 'luring' tourists into emptying their wallets.

New Zealand tourists enjoy Vietnamese banh mi. Cuisine is one of the attractive aspects of tourism in Vietnam - Photo: QUANG DINH

As reported by Tuoi Tre Online , the World Economic Forum (WEF) has just announced that Vietnam's tourism development index for 2023 ranks 59th out of 119 countries and territories, behind Singapore (ranked 13th), Indonesia (ranked 22nd), Malaysia (ranked 35th), and Thailand (ranked 47th).

However, when the press reported on the issue extensively and public opinion focused on it, the Vietnam National Tourism Administration immediately issued a statement: "The ranking results of this index do not truly reflect the situation accurately."

According to the World Economic Forum's assessment, Singapore ranks highest in ASEAN, at 13th. Countries ranked above Vietnam include Indonesia (22nd), Malaysia (35th), and Thailand (47th).

According to this assessment, Vietnam ranks higher than the Philippines (69th), Cambodia (86th), and Laos (91st).

Considering this a way to evade responsibility, reader Lai Quang Tan commented: "I think they have made the right assessment; Vietnam must overcome all its shortcomings if it hopes to catch up with other countries in the region."

To see if people's assessments are accurate or not, the National Tourism Administration could simply send people to Ben Thanh Market, An Dong Market (Ho Chi Minh City)... and sit there for about a week to find out whether there are many or few tourists."

Mr. Nguyen Van My (Lua Viet Tours) shared his perspective on this issue:

Without alcohol, Malaysia still surged to the top.

According to the World Economic Forum's assessment, in addition to positive aspects, Vietnam's weakest indicators are listed as follows: Service infrastructure (ranked 80th); Level of tourism openness (ranked 80th); Health and hygiene (ranked 81st); Environmental sustainability (ranked 93rd); Socio-economic impact of the tourism industry (ranked 115th)...

As someone working in the tourism industry, I've noticed that Malaysia has emerged as the leader in ASEAN for sustainable tourism in this ranking.

Malaysia, despite having restrictions such as not selling alcohol or engaging in excessive partying, led ASEAN in 2023 with 28 million visitors and was the only country in Asia to welcome more tourists than before the 2019 pandemic (28/27 million visitors).

I think that by observing Malaysia's approach to tourism, Vietnamese tourism professionals can learn a valuable lesson: the importance of interconnectedness. This interconnectedness includes collaboration within the industry, between localities and regions, and across different sectors.

Regarding the issue of collaboration for tourism development, someone jokingly summarized it as follows: "Vietnam's tourism industry has many strengths, the strongest of which is that everyone does their own thing!"

Master of "luring" customers into emptying their wallets with incredibly cheap tour prices.

To overcome these weaknesses, no one else but each and every one of us Vietnamese people can do it. If we don't love our country and our homeland enough, how can we attract visitors?

Besides enhancing its image in the eyes of tourists, as mentioned above, tourism requires collaboration, because it is a comprehensive economic sector and cannot thrive "alone".

In many countries, tourism is very well linked with the healthcare sector (health tourism); education (studying abroad); sports (competitions, training, watching competitions); culture (filmmaking, film production, events); commerce (international trade fairs); agriculture (homestay festivals, OCOP fairs)...

They combine modern media with word-of-mouth, providing excellent service so that word of mouth spreads quickly.

Returning to the issue of Vietnam's tourism ranking declining, according to the World Economic Forum's assessment, even if Vietnam's tourism surpasses Singapore next year—an island nation 451 times smaller in area and 18 times smaller in population—it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

The challenge is how to surpass Malaysia and keep pace with Thailand – the master of the art of "luring" tourists into emptying their pockets with incredibly cheap tour prices.

To achieve this, a real "revolution" in the way tourism is conducted is needed, with appropriate mechanisms in place, starting with small things like disposing of trash properly and refraining from excessive honking on the road.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to attend "Homestay Nite Malaysia 2024" in Thu Duc on the evening of May 26th, and I was truly impressed by Malaysia's approach to tourism.

That gathering, with just over 20 selected guests, included the consul general, consuls for tourism, education, and health, the president of the Malaysian Homestay Association, and more.

The Malaysia Tourism Board is under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Currently, this organization has 34 offices worldwide. Embassies all have tourism attachés (ambassadors) or consuls (consuls general), as well as attachés for various sectors.

And, when necessary, they gather easily, exchanging ideas in a very friendly and warm manner, like members of the same family.

Another valuable lesson is that they don't invite too many people to such gatherings because it's costly (expensive and ineffective). This is quite different from Vietnam, where everything is done on a grand scale, but doesn't always yield the desired results.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bai-hoc-tu-du-lich-ben-vung-and-du-khach-vet-sach-tui-20240530112556386.htm