The recovery of tourism and the leading role of big business

Golden Bridge, the highlight of Da Nang tourism .

Impressive recoveries

In the last months of 2023, Vietnam tourism has continuously received good news about recovery and growth. According to the General Statistics Office, in the first 9 months of 2023, the total number of international visitors to Vietnam reached about 8.9 million, an increase of 4.7 times compared to the same period in 2022. Thus, in just the first 9 months of the year, Vietnam tourism has surpassed the international visitor target for the whole year of 2023 of 8 million visitors. Although it is still far from returning to the growth rate of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, these numbers are truly a breath of fresh air for Vietnam tourism since the Covid-19 pandemic ended. In the same period last year 2022, Vietnam welcomed only 1.44 million international visitors.

Vietnam tourism has also received continuous recognition from the international community. More than 40 World Travel Awards 2023 in Asia-Oceania recently awarded to Vietnam have shown that Vietnam tourism is increasingly gaining a position in the region. In particular, Vietnam was honored as “Asia’s Leading Destination” for the 5th time (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) and won the “Asia’s Leading Natural Destination” award for the 2nd time in a row (2022 and 2023).

Along with the honors for Vietnam in general, many Vietnamese tourism businesses also made their mark in many prestigious categories.Sun Group alone was awarded 5 awards by the World Travel Awards 2023 Asia-Oceania: Asia's Leading Tourism Group for Sun Group; Asia's Leading Resort Developer for Sun Hospitality Group; Asia's Leading Water Park 2023 for Aquatopia Water Park (Phu Quoc); Asia's Leading Theme Park 2023 for Sun World Ba Na Hills (Da Nang) and Asia's Leading Luxury Boutique Hotel 2023 for Capella Hanoi (Hanoi).

“Recently, Vietnam tourism has been voted by WTA 2023 and won many prestigious awards. That is an important resource affirming that Vietnam is a safe and attractive destination after the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director of the Department of Tourism.

In addition, according to data from Google, the number of searches for Vietnam tourism has continuously increased in the world's top, in just 6 months it has risen from 11th place to 6th place with a growth rate of 10% to 25%, much higher than the general growth rate of Southeast Asia and is also the only destination in the region in this group.

Compared to the gloomy situation with no international visitors like the "afternoon market" of the 2021-2022 period, it is clear that Vietnamese tourism has had an impressive recovery in the first 8 months of 2023.

The leading role of large enterprises

There are many reasons for this recovery. One of the most important factors that cannot be ignored is the new visa policy, effective from August 15, allowing visitors from some countries to be exempted from visas from 15 days to 45 days and increasing the validity of electronic visas (e-visas) from 30 days to 90 days, with multiple entries.

However, it is undeniable that the flexible response and contribution of the business community, especially large enterprises, have created momentum for the recovery and growth of Vietnam's tourism to be accelerated. In the past 3 years, despite continuously suffering the consequences of Covid-19 and economic recession, Vietnam still has a series of high-class tourism and resort products, thanks to the efforts and proactive investment of businesses.

Sun Group alone has launched impressive projects across the country such as Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh hot spring resort (Quang Ninh); 5-star Capella Hanoi hotel (Hanoi); a series of projects such as Time Gate, Sun God Waterfall, Eclipse Square, 3D mapping light show at Sun World Ba Na Hills (Da Nang) or Kiss the Stars show, giant wooden roller coaster at Sun World Phu Quoc or the Kissing Bridge project being completed in Phu Quoc...

The Group also strives to coordinate with localities, continuously organizing large-scale and attractive events and festivals in Sa Pa, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Thanh Hoa, etc., contributing to creating a vibrant, fresh atmosphere, attracting a large number of domestic tourists.

“We determined that if we just sit still and wait for the storm to pass, we might be overwhelmed before we have a chance to overcome it. Therefore, despite the difficulties, we are determined to increase our strength with new products and services, creating momentum for tourism to recover in the post-pandemic period,” said Mr. Dang Minh Truong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Group.

In fact, new products, festivals, and events have become “weapons” that help localities in particular and Vietnam’s tourism industry in general make breakthroughs after the pandemic. Da Nang is a typical example.

In addition to the emergence of new high-class tourism products at Sun World Ba Na Hills, a series of MICE activities continuously organized with night activities and night streets, Da Nang has upgraded and invested in a new series of festival events. In particular, the return of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2023 sponsored and co-organized by Sun Group after a 3-year hiatus due to the pandemic has created a bustling, vibrant atmosphere for the city throughout the summer of 2023.

Many other localities have also had impressive tourism growth in the first 8 months of the year, thanks to efforts to innovate tourism products and services. Lao Cai reached 4,920,828 visitors, an increase of 73.7% over the same period in 2022; Quang Ninh welcomed 12.06 million visitors, of which international visitors reached 875,000; total tourism revenue reached nearly 24,000 billion VND, 1.6 times higher than the same period in 2022...

“The efforts of the Government, localities and the tourism business community in promoting domestic and international tourism and creating new products have helped restore tourism activities faster. In particular, the role of economic groups and large enterprises such as Sun Group, airlines and large travel agencies is very important. They have become pioneers in implementing market connections, building new products and promoting Vietnamese tourism. We highly appreciate the contributions and efforts of these economic groups and large enterprises in their efforts to restore domestic and international tourism,” said Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh.

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