Tourism service revenue leads, why are businesses still worried?

With tourism revenue reaching 4.2 billion USD in the first quarter of 2025, Vietnam is facing a great opportunity. Is the long-term strategy for the tourism industry strong enough to maintain this impressive growth momentum or is it just a temporary dream?

International visitors enjoy Vietnamese cuisine - Photo: TT

In the first quarter of 2025, tourism service revenue will be the most prosperous, reaching 4.2 billion USD, accounting for 55.4% of the country's total service export turnover.

Boosting exports focuses on service industries that account for a high proportion of service exports such as tourism. Businesses and experts say that the tourism industry needs a lot of work.

Worried about not having a long-term tourism development strategy for strategic markets!?

On April 27, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Nguyen Chau A - founder and general director of Oxalis Group - said that on a macro level, Vietnam's tourism is worrying because Vietnam has not really researched a long-term tourism development strategy for strategic markets.

Mr. A explained: "When doing, there will be a clearer strategy for planning and developing products for each market. For example, the needs of Asian customers are completely different from those of European and American customers.

It is easy to see that in Ba Na Hills, Phu Quoc, the product is suitable for Asian tourists (Korean, Chinese and domestic tourists). Therefore, Western tourists do not come to these places anymore, or if they do, they come in small numbers. Thus, a national strategy is needed if we want to maintain or develop products for European and American tourists. These are long-term things that Vietnam needs to do."

Similarly, citing the Tan Hoa tourist village in Quang Binh for Western visitors, Mr. A said that in Vietnam there are many other unique rural villages. If there is a strategy to preserve and maintain a series of rural villages, it can develop tourism for Western visitors very well in the future.

"Tourist villages like this are culture, identity, customs, beautiful rural scenery, and scenes of buffalo plowing fields that you won't find anywhere in the West. But if you look for colorful high-rise buildings, they have plenty. The most important thing in tourism is the product, then marketing," Mr. A emphasized.

Meanwhile, always maintaining the inbound market growth rate above 50% and being the medium-term business strategy goal of the enterprise, Vietluxtour representative also acknowledged that tourism resources may not be able to change but the mindset of developing tourism economy always needs to be renewed.

That is to say, a long-term, differentiated development strategy is needed to exploit old and new markets; Vietnamese tourism must create a difference… hoping to maintain growth and achieve new results.

Earning long-term foreign currency when the tourism industry knows how to forecast and adapt

From a general development perspective, Dr. Duong Duc Minh - Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic and Tourism Development Research - assessed that exporting tourism services is not simply selling tours or providing itineraries, but "exporting" on-site experiences for international visitors to consume right on their own territory, thereby "exporting" the country's image to the world.

"It is necessary to develop a national strategy for tourism service exports for the 2025-2035 period, focusing on product innovation and digital transformation. Digital transformation in particular needs to be accelerated from marketing, service booking, response objects, to logistics management...

Tourists come to Vietnam not only for sightseeing and relaxation but also for business and investment needs... To develop tourism resources, it is necessary to have uniformity in national policies, physical infrastructure, human capacity and technology application level...", Mr. Minh said.

In addition, according to Mr. Minh, to export comprehensive experiences, Vietnamese tourism needs to build the capacity to forecast and adapt to risks such as proactively monitoring international market fluctuations (changes in consumer behavior, geopolitical shifts, environmental crises, epidemics, etc.); scenarios for crisis situations such as disruptions in tourist flows, fluctuations in tourism spending, etc.

"A tourism industry that knows how to forecast and adapt will not only be a tool to earn immediate foreign currency, but will become a solid foundation for Vietnam to build a proactive, creative and sustainable integrated economy," Mr. Minh emphasized.

Tourism transactions are messages about economic and market potential.

According to the FutureBrand Country Index 2024, Vietnam ranked 47/100 in terms of national image, up 6 places compared to 2022, and was especially highly rated in the fields of tourism, cuisine and traditional crafts. This shows that tourism not only brings immediate revenue, but is also a channel to promote national recognition and position in the long term.

From here, according to Mr. Minh, each tourism transaction not only brings direct income, but also conveys a message to the world about the economic level, market potential and investment attractiveness of the country.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doanh-thu-dich-vu-du-lich-dan-dau-vi-sao-doanh-nghiep-van-lo-20250427210412383.htm