International tourists cancel their trip to Quy Nhon because there are no direct flights?
Speaking at the conference on Linking Tourism Development of Several Provinces and Cities in the Central Coast and Central Highlands Region on the afternoon of May 30, Mr. Lam Hai Giang - Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh Province - said that in recent years, Binh Dinh has had brilliant developments in tourism.
This place is considered a successive star on the Vietnam tourism map, highly appreciated by many international travel magazines, becoming a safe, friendly and attractive destination for tourists.
However, Mr. Giang frankly admitted that "development has not been as expected and is not commensurate with potential".
As a representative of a large travel agency in Korea, Ms. Choice Young Gill highly appreciated the tourism potential of Binh Dinh and said that this is a new tourist destination in Vietnam that Korean tourists are very interested in.
“Quy Nhon has many beautiful beaches, unique heritages, friendly people, and a clean and beautiful city. We have brought many Korean tourist groups here for vacation. In addition to swimming and sightseeing, Korean tourists also love to come to Quy Nhon to play golf,” said Ms. Choice.
This unit is building 1-2 month vacation tours in Quy Nhon targeting retired Korean guests with abundant finances. However, what makes Ms. Choice worried is that there are currently no direct flights from Korea to Quy Nhon.
Tourists take photos in Quy Nhon (Photo: Doan Cong).
To get here, Korean visitors often have to transit at Noi Bai airport ( Hanoi ) or Tan Son Nhat airport (HCMC) and then take a connecting flight, which is very tiring.
“We have planned to build charter tours (private direct flights) from Korea to Quy Nhon, the cost is very reasonable, customers are very excited. However, unfortunately, Quy Nhon's infrastructure does not meet the technical requirements.
I think that if direct flights are implemented, Quy Nhon will not be inferior to Da Nang in terms of tourism development, and will even be more competitive than some destinations in Thailand," Ms. Choice shared with Dan Tri .
According to Ms. Choice, Korean tourists love to come to Quy Nhon to play golf (Photo: TC).
In addition to the lack of direct flights, according to Ms. Choice, many Korean partners selling Quy Nhon tours also complained about the lack of destination information, making it difficult to advertise, promote, and introduce products to customers.
Agreeing with this view, Ms. Tran Thi Kim Qui - Permanent Deputy General Director of FLC Hotels & Resorts - said that when there is a lack of suitable flights, no matter how good the service ecosystem is, it is difficult to bring customers and retain them.
Ms. Qui cited that in Quy Nhon, this enterprise has invested synchronously from 5-star hotels, resorts, golf courses, conference centers to amusement parks to create an international standard tourism - resort - entertainment - MICE ecosystem, meeting diverse needs of customers.
Many delegations and representatives of international tourism businesses were very excited when participating in the survey trips, constantly "wow" with surprise at FLC's resorts and tourism products, but encountered many problems with the flight routes.
Ms. Tran Thi Kim Qui said that when there is a lack of suitable flights, no matter how good the service ecosystem is, it is difficult to bring customers and retain them (Photo: NM).
Ms. Qui said that an international delegation of nearly 10,000 people really wanted to sign a contract to Quy Nhon but in the end could not do so due to the lack of convenient flight options.
“There were groups of tourists who, even though there were no direct flights, still accepted to fly to Ho Chi Minh City and then transfer to Quy Nhon. However, having to wait too long at the transit airport made the tourists tired, significantly affecting their first impression. It was only on the second day, when they had somewhat recovered, that we were able to carry out experiential activities – but by then their stay was running out.
This shows that: Transport infrastructure, especially aviation, is the first point of contact and can determine the entire tourist experience. If we cannot untie this bottleneck, it will be very difficult for us to retain customers in global competition," said Ms. Qui.
A Korean business shared with Dan Tri reporter that as long as there is a direct flight from Korea to Quy Nhon, they are ready to commit to the number of Korean tourists coming here.
“I am very sad that Quy Nhon is very beautiful but does not have many international visitors, especially Korean visitors, just because of the flight problems. Many Korean visitors praise Quy Nhon as more beautiful than Chiang Mai (Thailand), however, when deciding to spend money on a tour, they still choose Thailand because there are direct flights,” said this representative.
Regional linkages to create breakthrough tourism products
Mr. Lam Hai Giang – Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh Province – said that the province aims to turn tourism into a spearhead economic sector. To do this, according to Mr. Giang, it is impossible without the participation of localities, especially the Central Coast and Central Highlands regions.
“The Central Coast and Central Highlands region is a treasure trove of tourism resources, but why can't we exploit its full potential?... People often say 'if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together'. Regional linkage is a trend and is inevitable to promote tourism development,” said Mr. Giang.
Hanoi tourists experience Eo Gio (Photo: HT).
Agreeing that regional linkage will help Binh Dinh and the provinces in the Central Coast and Central Highlands regions make a breakthrough in tourism, Associate Professor Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Tourism Research, said that there must be a separate support mechanism for the linkage to be successful.
“The story of linking the Central Coast - Central Highlands region is not new, we have raised the issue and researched it since 20 years ago. After researching, I realized that it is impossible to link successfully if the localities are local. The strengths of one locality must compensate for those of another, we must be voluntary, have regional institutions, and avoid comparison. The linking must be substantial, and the responsibilities and interests of those participating in the linking must be divided,” said Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Trung Luong.
Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that tourism is facing an unprecedented new opportunity to transform strongly. In the context of merging localities, expanding administrative boundaries, creating momentum for development, regional linkage is an inevitable and very important trend. Mr. Sieu emphasized the role of the private economy and tourism businesses in linking to promote and create innovative and breakthrough products.
“On the threshold of a new era, the role of businesses is very important, requiring us to have actions and breakthrough, pioneering ideas. This is a historic opportunity for tourism businesses and localities to make a breakthrough,” said Mr. Sieu.
Ms. Tran Thi Kim Qui - Permanent Deputy General Director of FLC Hotels & Resorts also proposed that in order for Vietnamese tourism to develop strongly and sustainably in the context of global competition, a multi-industry - multi-regional - multi-value ecosystem is needed.
In that ecosystem, enterprises are the central driving force, pioneers in investment, innovation and integration. To do this, there needs to be a mechanism to encourage enterprises to invest in high-quality products and services, aiming at international standards and sustainable development.
In addition, there are policies to support businesses in developing cultural and culinary tourism products, including organizing festivals, experiential events and inviting international chefs and artisans to participate, thereby enhancing the attractiveness and personalizing the experience for each target market.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/khach-han-quoc-vi-quy-nhon-la-ngoi-sao-nhung-ngai-den-vi-khong-co-duong-bay-20250530230542228.htm
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