Vietnam's tourism competitiveness drops: Need to find long-term solutions

Tourists visit Ho Chi Minh City by cyclo - Photo: QUANG DINH

Vietnam tourism must listen and change

According to experts and businesses, based on the results of the Global Tourism Development Capability Index 2024 report using a new assessment method recently announced by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Vietnam's tourism management agencies need to listen and continue to improve the limitations to maintain the attraction of international tourists and extend the length of stay of tourists in Vietnam.

Mr. Phuoc Dang, CEO of Outbox Comapy, believes that if Vietnamese tourism wants to find a solution, the first thing it must do is dare to look at the results, accept the reality and then find the cause. In fact, the WEF's indicators have been adjusted very promptly, in line with post-pandemic fluctuations and are quite reasonable.

Another factor is that the report evaluates the rankings between countries, meaning that if a country has made efforts but still falls in the rankings, it means that those efforts are still not as good as other countries, so it is understood that further adjustments are needed to improve.

Therefore, according to Mr. Phuoc Dang, the WEF indexes have been calculated and standardized, and Vietnamese tourism needs to look at them to examine the actual competitiveness to develop the tourism industry in the right direction.

"The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has determined that to improve the "Sustainability of Tourism Demand" index, the Vietnamese tourism industry needs to develop more attractive tours and tourism products.

However, it is not simply about product development, but we need to have truly effective solutions," Mr. Phuoc Dang analyzed.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Truong, vice president of the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Tourism Club, commented that among Vietnam's indicators falling into the middle and low categories, the indicator worth considering is the level of priority given to tourism.

Compared to neighboring countries, Vietnam's tourism businesses are still quite isolated. In terms of tourism resources, Vietnam is completely proud to develop, but tourism products are very poor, many famtrips are deployed according to the movement but then cannot be developed into commercial products or exploited sustainably.

According to a tourism expert, with the results from the Global Tourism Development Capacity Index 2024 report, the Vietnam National Tourism Administration should no longer focus on the issue of falling in ranking but on how to improve Vietnam's current tourism capacity.

At the beginning of 2024, the Government issued Directive 08 on comprehensive, rapid and sustainable tourism development in the coming time.

This Directive also identified the tasks that the tourism industry needs to focus on improving, including proactively innovating the content and methods of tourism promotion and advertising; strengthening the connection of service infrastructure, rural tourism, culinary tourism, health tourism, etc.

And this is an opportunity for Vietnamese tourism to have a reference to recognize where Vietnamese tourism stands. "To improve national tourism competitiveness, Vietnam can also consider a set of separate tourism development indicators in localities.

Because if local indicators are improved, national capacity will also improve. We are aiming for sustainable tourism development, but many destinations still have waste and wastewater causing environmental pollution... These are problems that need long-term solutions," said this expert.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nang-luc-canh-tranh-du-lich-viet-nam-tut-hang-can-tim-giai-phap-lau-dai-20240527230532322.htm