According to tourism experts, Vietnam has all the strengths to become a resort “paradise” for the world’s retirees. With the ability to stay long and spend a lot, this is a potential market for the country’s tourism industry to make a breakthrough.
After a long period of work, most retirees have a need to rest. This is also the time when they are not too constrained by time and finances , their children are almost grown up and independent, so they have many conditions to enjoy life as they wish. That is the reason why after retirement, many elderly people in American, European and Asian countries are looking for a place to live abroad, where there are favorable conditions in terms of weather, climate, access to medical services, language, visas, and reasonable living costs.
Surveys by Insider and Morning Consult also show that the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) trend is being pursued by a large number of citizens around the world, including intellectuals and businessmen. They prioritize saving up to 70% of their income when they are young to be able to retire early and spend time experiencing new living environments. This further confirms that retirement tourism is a "promised land" with great potential for exploitation.
Possessing a system of beautiful natural landscapes, rich and diverse cuisine and a long-standing and unique culture, Vietnam is considered an ideal destination for retired tourists. Recently, based on the analysis of Numbeo's database on the living standards index in cities and countries around the world, the famous American travel magazine Travel + Leisure has announced a list of 8 livable countries with affordable costs for retired tourists, including Vietnam.
The data shows that the total cost of living in Vietnam is about 59.3% lower than in the US and rents are about 78.5% lower depending on location. Notably, in Ho Chi Minh City, home to the largest expat community, the cost of living is about 69.9% lower than in New York and housing costs are about 87.4% lower. Previously, this magazine recommended Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) as one of the eight best beach resorts in the world for retirees.
In February 2023, the prestigious website Investing listed Hoi An (Quang Nam) and Da Nang in Vietnam as one of the top 9 ideal destinations for retirement. These records further prove that Vietnam is a destination worth visiting for global retirees. Along with increasingly upgraded infrastructure, the emergence of high-quality health care services at many major hospitals in provinces and cities, and the increase in medical staff who can communicate well in English are also contributing to proving Vietnam's service capacity for retirees.
It is worth mentioning that, despite its great potential, retirement tourism is still an untapped market in Vietnam. Up to now, our country has not had a specific policy to create a strong attraction for this type of customer. Meanwhile, for many years, some countries in the region have made decisions to leverage the international retirement market. A typical example is Thailand with its "retirement visa" policy specifically for retirees to live there.
Accordingly, if you are 50 years old or older and have an account balance of over 800,000 baht opened at a Thai bank, foreigners can apply for a long-term Thai visa for many years, with certain conditions. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines... also have visa programs with many attractive benefits to turn their country into a "second home" for retirees to travel and live.
According to experts, Vietnam cannot be any slower in the race to gain market share in retirement tourism, as this is a segment that brings in a lot of profit and creates many related job opportunities. It is necessary to consider developing infrastructure, building a healthy living space, especially having an attractive enough visa policy specifically for retirement tourists to attract them to Vietnam.
Experts from the Institute for Tourism Development Research suggest that, in addition to the international retiree market, the Vietnamese tourism industry should not ignore the domestic retiree market, because there is still much room for development. The evidence is that according to the results of a survey of domestic tourists before the Covid-19 pandemic by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the number of elderly tourists only accounts for a very low proportion in the structure of domestic tourists (tourists aged 55-65 account for 4.53%, tourists over 65 account for 1.44%), while the number of elderly people in Vietnam (from 60 years old) accounts for 12.8% of the country's population.
According to research by a group of experts, most elderly people prefer to go to destinations with quiet spaces, peaceful communication, convenient transportation and rest; and often pay much attention to types of tourism such as resort tourism, cultural and historical tourism, spiritual tourism, health care, etc.
Building tours and routes for this specific group of customers requires meticulousness and high professionalism from the organizer, from designing suitable travel schedules in the direction of extending sightseeing time, increasing rest time, to monitoring the health status of tourists, ensuring a hygienic diet, limiting grease, spices...
From the perspective of a travel agency, Vietfoot Travel Director Pham Duy Nghia said that retirees coming to Vietnam do not simply want to visit and sightsee, but are also particularly interested in medical examination, treatment and health care services. The reason is that Vietnam's medical infrastructure and the qualifications of its medical staff are increasingly improving, and Vietnam is also a country with a long-standing traditional medicine system and not too high medical costs. Therefore, there needs to be a close "handshake" between the tourism and healthcare industries to build attractive, unique and competitive products to attract retirees to Vietnam...
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