Why is Vietnam a destination that fascinates Indian tourists?

Indian tourism market is booming

Recently, an Indian pharmaceutical billionaire plans to bring 4,500 employees to Vietnam for a nearly two-week tour from the end of August and will visit Hanoi , Ninh Binh, and Ha Long Bay.

This group of tourists was welcomed and served by Vietravel Tourism Company. This is the first time a large Vietnamese travel agency has served a large scale and number of Indian tourists. The group of 4,500 tourists, divided into small groups, will travel to Vietnam from August 27 to September 7. The customers are employees of the large Indian pharmaceutical group Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, from many different countries but mainly Indians. The group's owner is one of the richest billionaires in India, and is expected to be in Vietnam with the group.

“Vietravel focuses on selecting accommodation services at each destination. The tour guide team possesses standard foreign languages, extensive knowledge of the destination, presentation and storytelling skills, and the ability to handle sensitive situations to arrange suitable arrangements for each group of guests,” said Ms. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, Marketing Director of Vietravel Tourism Company.

According to Ms. Khanh, the group of guests of this pharmaceutical group will use 4-5 star accommodation services when coming to Vietnam, with specific requirements for food to suit their beliefs and religions. In addition, they also want to have at least three tour guides for each group of 30-35 guests to ensure the best experience. The selected tour guides must all know Hindi and the introduction at the tourist attractions, usually in English - Vietnamese, will be translated into Hindi.

Not only this group of tourists, since the beginning of the year, a large number of Indian tourists have come to Vietnam for tourism. In the first 7 months of 2024, Indian tourists ranked 7th in the top 10 largest international tourist source markets of Vietnam.

According to livemint.com, there has been an article affirming that the Indian tourism market is bustling, especially the rate of Indians traveling abroad has increased dramatically recently, in which Vietnam has emerged as a popular international destination. Accordingly, Indian tourists to Vietnam increased by 248% compared to the same period in 2019, followed by the US and Japan with growth rates of 59% and 53% respectively. The above figures were compiled for the period from January to March 2024, also showing a significant change in tourists' preferences.

Indian tourists arrive in Da Nang in early 2023. (Photo: Minh Hien)

Vietnam Airlines General Director Le Hong Ha said that since the opening of direct flights between Vietnam and India in June 2022, Vietnam Airlines has transported more than 240,000 passengers. The seat utilization rate has always been at nearly 80% in 2024, 1.5 times higher than in 2022. This proves the growing travel demand of tourists and businessmen between the two countries.

Surveys by travel companies show that Indian tourists prefer short-flight destinations in Southeast Asia and new destinations such as Vietnam - a place with diverse natural landscapes, a climate that allows year-round tourism, a long-standing culture with world heritage sites spread throughout the country, and rich and diverse cuisine and tourism types.

Why Indian tourists like to come to Vietnam

Explaining why Vietnam has become an attractive destination for Indian tourists, experts say that Vietnam has all the strengths to attract more of this type of tourist. The distance between Vietnam and India is not too far, and recently there have been more direct flights connecting the two countries, so it is very convenient to travel, taking only about 4 - 5 hours for the flight to Vietnam.

In addition, Indians pay great attention to the cost of travel, and Vietnam has competitive service prices, 10-15% cheaper than other countries in the region; this is a "plus point" in the choice of Indian tourists. Besides, for many Indians, Vietnam is still a new destination with diverse culture, cuisine, rich natural resources..., easily stimulating the desire to explore.

This helps explain why the number of Indian tourists to Vietnam has increased sharply recently, especially in places with rich tourism resources and high-quality infrastructure such as Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Ha Long, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, etc.; in which family group travel, MICE tourism, especially wedding tourism with lavish weddings of the super-rich Indians, is popular. This is also the result of the fact that in recent times, the tourism industry and many localities and destinations in our country have focused on promoting and advertising Vietnamese tourism to the Indian market.

Indian tourists want to buy souvenirs at a stall on a walking street near Hoan Kiem Lake.

(Photo: VNA)

Find ways to attract more

India is one of the tourism markets that Vietnam needs to invest in attracting in the coming time. This is clearly a source of visitors with great potential and has a great impact on promoting the image and tourism services of Vietnam to India.

Therefore, according to many experts, the important issue is to build services and products that are capable of conquering this famously difficult customer market. Besides the preference for staying in beautiful resorts, Indian customers also like to eat and party. Indian customers often choose to use services at a fairly average level, they calculate and consider carefully their travel and dining options. Understanding the psychological characteristics, culture and habits of tourists will help service providers be more thoroughly prepared to meet the needs of tourists.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Hong Long, Head of the Department of Tourism Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) expressed his opinion: The number of Indian tourists to Vietnam is increasing, but there are no specific and complete statistics on human resources serving Indian tourists. There needs to be a solution to train and foster knowledge and skills to serve Indian tourists for units exploiting this market.

Tourism research expert, Master Nguyen Van Gia suggested that travel agencies need to coordinate closely with Indian partners to clarify customers' requests regarding food and beverage; notify in detail the services in the program, any additional services, not included in the program, need to be made into options with specific costs to be ready to serve if customers have a need.

LuxGroup Chairman Pham Ha said that travel agencies and tourism service providers need to proactively grasp the psychological characteristics of Indians.

According to Mr. Pham Ha, Indian tourists like to “bargain” and “shop”. Price is the first factor that Indian tourists care about and decide on their trip, deciding which company to book a tour with. “All markets in general care about price, but Indian tourists are a price-sensitive market. They will try to get information about the prices of services for the trip as a basis for negotiating prices with partners. They consider themselves experts in tourism, so they often spend a lot of time researching destinations and prices before choosing a destination,” Mr. Ha shared.

Understanding the needs and having an effective promotion strategy, in the future, the tourism industry serving Indian tourists in Vietnam promises to continue to grow strongly, creating many business opportunities, unique experiences and cultural connections between the two countries.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/vi-sao-viet-nam-la-diem-den-khien-khach-du-lich-an-do-me-man-post522192.html