New opportunities from the Chinese tourist market

New Opportunity

The number of international tourists to Vietnam in the first 4 months of 2023 was nearly 3.7 million; of which, Chinese tourists quickly rose to the 3rd position in the total number of international visitors, despite having only been open for 1.5 months. According to the General Department of Tourism, Chinese tourists will recover faster than other markets due to their large population; demand is increasing after the country reopened international tourism activities. In particular, this market is expected to recover quickly from the summer of 2023, increasing sharply in October and the last months of this year.

Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists tended to prefer beach destinations in warm climates, shopping trips, and famous scenic spots in Vietnam. Thua Thien Hue was not yet a major destination for Chinese tourists, due to the lack of large-scale inner-city hotels and coastal resorts, lack of large rooms for large groups, and complex-style services...

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism, said that according to recent assessments by many tourism experts, many Chinese tourists tend to change the way they travel, especially in the early stages of opening. Tourists do not travel in groups, but in small groups or families. The main tourist stream is young tourists who like to explore and learn about the culture of safe destinations, not crowded, with health care products...

According to Mr. Phuc, from those needs, this is an opportunity for Thua Thien Hue tourism to attract Chinese tourists in the coming period. It is also a premise for Hue to be able to form more products, services, and destinations to meet the needs of some other tourist streams from China.

Mr. Truong Cong Le Hoang, Director of Viet Trung Service and Tourism Company Limited, a unit specializing in exploiting Chinese tourists, said that the number of tourists coming to Vietnam has increased, but direct flights to Da Nang will decrease in the coming time. As for Hue, Terminal T2 of Phu Bai International Airport is larger and more modern, so it can exploit tourists directly from China. When tourists fly directly to Hue, it will be a midpoint, so it will be very convenient to combine tourism from Quang Binh with Da Nang, Hoi An. Along with that, Hue was chosen by partners as a destination for educational tourism, which is developing strongly in China.

Need more products

New opportunities have been recognized. However, it is necessary to re-evaluate the actual situation, when China has just had an open-door policy for tourists, there will still be certain limitations in the form of tour organization. Currently, tourists have changed in taste, thinking, behavior, and travel style. However, the "inner meaning" of tourism products in Hue has not changed much. If we want to attract this billion-people market, we need new solutions.

According to Mr. Truong Cong Le Hoang, with the advantages of Hue and the changes in some of the needs of tourists, in the coming time, educational tours with tours lasting 10 - 15 days for Chinese students to study, learn about the typical culture, craft villages... will first come to Hue. Programs to learn about culture, exchange culture and art. Along with that, combined with products to explore nature in Quang Binh, beach resorts in Da Nang, are the services that businesses will exploit with Chinese partners when coming to Hue in particular and the Central region in general in the coming time.

To connect provinces and cities in China to Thua Thien Hue, businesses alone cannot do it, but need the "initiative" of provincial agencies and departments to directly go to neighboring localities to promote. Especially, promoting to open direct flights. Besides, it is necessary to promote the image of the destination better in the markets that Hue is targeting.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc affirmed that in order to meet the needs of Chinese tourists, the Department of Tourism and travel agencies will survey and research customer behavior to see if the above trends have changed, what other desires customers have... Only when understanding the market and customer needs can we have quality, suitable products.

In another development, the tourism industry of Thua Thien Hue is contacting and discussing with a number of tourism partners in Zhejiang province, China, a twinned locality of Thua Thien Hue, to discuss the possibility of cooperation in exchanging visitors and developing a number of products suitable for visitors from some regions of the Chinese market.

Along with proactive connections, the tourism industry of Thua Thien Hue is closely linking with the tourism industry of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Da Nang and Quang Nam, coordinating with a number of enterprises in China to organize the reception of delegations with programs to visit Hue in the coming time. The organization connects and invites a famtrip delegation of a number of Chinese enterprises to explore the possibility of promoting and investing in Thua Thien Hue to survey and evaluate the accommodation capacity, products, and destinations suitable for a number of Chinese tourists, in order to build more suitable tour programs to Hue and the Central region.

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