Tourism is still waiting for a push from foreign customers

Businesses waiting for foreign customers

The data released by the General Statistics Office showed that international visitors to Vietnam in May were estimated at 5 arrivals, down 916.300% from the previous month. Generally, in the first 6,9 months of the year, Vietnam welcomed nearly 5 million international visitors, 4,6 times higher than the same period last year. Compared with the target of 12,6 million visitors set by the tourism industry for the whole year, this has reached 8%. Leaders of the tourism industry are also confident that with the current growth in visitor numbers, along with efforts to promote, promote and organize attractive cultural and tourism events, Vietnam's tourism can attract 57 million visitors. international visitors in 10. 

The National Administration of Tourism assessed that the main growth driver for the current international visitor market is China. After the country reopened group tours to Vietnam from March 15.3, the number of visitors in March and April reached nearly 3. In particular, in April alone, there were 4 Chinese visitors to Vietnam, up 200.000% compared to March, achieving the highest growth rate in international tourist markets. 

This is also the month to welcome the highest number of Chinese tourists in 3 years of the Covid-19 epidemic. In addition, tourism promotion and advertising are being effectively implemented by relevant agencies. This makes the number of searches about VN tourism increase significantly. According to data from Google, international search volume for tourist accommodation in Vietnam ranks 11th in the world, in the group with an increase of 10-25%. Only Vietnam and the Philippines are Southeast Asian countries in the top group in the world.

However, compared to the same period in 2019, the total number of international visitors to Vietnam has only achieved a recovery rate of about 50-60%. The Chinese market alone is only 22%. No longer worrying too much about the target of 8 million visitors, but most tourism businesses are looking forward to the rebound in the international tourist market because after a year of booming domestic tourism, Vietnamese people are tending to pour out. Foreign tourism, domestic service industry revenue will face many difficulties when the purchasing power of tourists is showing signs of decreasing.

Ms. TL, owner of a 4-star hotel in Nha Trang, said that during the last holiday from April 30.4 to May 1.5, the hotel and restaurant system in the coastal city recorded a very good revenue, helping businesses get more money. to stay active after a long, difficult period. This summer, Ms. TL's hotel has also received bookings of about 70% of the rooms, spread from now until the end of August. However, most of the current booking guests are still domestic guests, families with children. The summer outing and the booking rate can be so high thanks to the discount program up to 8%. 

“Domestic guests spend quite a lot, if compared, sometimes less than 50% compared to international visitors. For example, foreigners traveling all day, at night, they still call the reception to order food or use massage and laundry services... at the hotel. Vietnamese people almost absolutely do not. My brother is also in the tourism industry, running a chain of restaurants and massage systems along the coast, but so far, he has only dared to reopen 60% of activities because there are not many international visitors, "Ms. TL said.

Recognizing the strong growth of tourism, the service system in Ho Chi Minh City is also facing an imbalance of visitor sources when it is still mainly dependent on the domestic market. Chairman of Saigontourist Group Pham Huy Binh informed that since Vietnam reopened for tourism in March 3.2022, the number of international visitors to Vietnam has participated in accommodation, travel and other services at the Saigontourist system. The group has begun to grow steadily. In the first 5 months of 2023, Saigontourist Group welcomed and served 750.000 visitors, an increase of 89,4% over the same period, of which international visitors reached 285.000, accounting for only 38% of the total number of visitors of the corporation. Although the 4, 5 star hotels in the center of Ho Chi Minh City have welcomed a higher rate of international visitors than domestic guests, they are still not as good as before the Covid-19 epidemic.

Expectations of breakthrough thanks to new policies

Mr. Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of Da Nang Tourism Association, said that the slow arrival of international visitors to Vietnam is a common situation due to the difficult global economic context and the weakening purchasing power after 3 years of the epidemic. Demand does not increase but supply is too large, so businesses are still facing difficulties. The tourism industry has also determined in advance that this year and next year still cannot escape difficulties. In that context, new policies on attracting international tourists related to visas being considered by the National Assembly are expected to create momentum and be one of the strengths for Vietnam to increase its national competitiveness. In the context that neighboring countries have been open about visa policies for a long time.

According to Mr. Dung, when the visa policy is more open and open, more tourists will come to Vietnam and compete for better destinations. In some highly sensitive markets such as China, if Vietnam opens an online visa, the number of retail and family visitors will surely increase immediately. Before the epidemic, they were forced to travel to Vietnam through guarantee companies, had to follow tours, so they have not recovered yet. Besides, a number of markets close to the unilateral visa exemption can be attracted immediately. Faraway markets such as visitors from Europe and America have a delay of about 6 months - 1 year for them to plan and accumulate income for the trip.

“In general, the new visa policies, if approved, will be a boost to the tourism industry to boom in the last 6 months of the year and 2024. International visitors are still the most important source of the tourism system due to the level of expenditure. spending, number of days of stay. If international visitors have not recovered, tourism businesses are still difficult. The strong growth of the domestic market is an organic foundation for tourism to revive, but the factor for growth and breakthrough must be international visitors, "said Cao Tri Dung.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, Chairwoman of BRG Group, said that Vietnam needs more policies to focus on attracting high-paying customers to improve "quality". The average daily expenditure of international visitors to Vietnam, despite the growth in the period 2009 - 2019, from 91,2 USD to 117,8 USD, is still very low compared to other countries in the region. . Meanwhile, Vietnam is possessing a lot of potential to develop a series of new products, such as golf tourism. In 2017 and 2022, Vietnam was honored as the best golf tourism destination and has hosted the top golf tournaments in Asia. In 2019, out of 5 million Korean visitors to Vietnam, more than 1 million went to play golf, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue for the tourism industry. Never before have so many tourists come to Vietnam to play golf like now. This is a customer with a spending level 2-3 times higher than a normal customer. They spend an average of 200-300 USD/day, staying for 3-4 days.

“Recently, BRG's hotel in Phu Quoc held a wedding for an Indian billionaire, in 5 days earning over 7 billion VND in revenue. We expect the Government to adjust policies and issue many solutions to attract more high-end customers with large spending and long-stay stays," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga.