International visitors to Vietnam each year are equal to 1/5 of the number of domestic tourists, but total revenue is 1.4 times higher.
According to data from the General Statistics Office, the number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first 3 months of the year increased continuously, reaching 4.6 million visitors. If this growth momentum is followed, by the end of the year, the number of international visitors to Vietnam will completely recover, even increasing compared to 2019 – the golden year of the tourism industry.
Head of the Secretariat of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), Hoang Nhan Chinh, said international visitors are of particular importance to Vietnamese tourism because they “bring abundant foreign exchange revenue to the country”. .
International visitors take a boat trip to Cai Rang floating market at the end of March. Photo: Tam Dang
In 2022, Vietnam’s total tourism revenue will reach 19.96 billion USD, revenue from international visitors will reach 3.8 billion USD, accounting for 19% of total revenue. Meanwhile, the number of domestic visitors reached 101.3 million, 27.6 times more than the number of international visitors with 3.66 million. Statistics from the World Tourism Organization in 2022 show that the average international tourist spending on a trip to Vietnam is 1,038 USD, nearly 7 times higher than the spending of Vietnamese tourists, which is 160 USD.
Data from the National Tourism Administration also shows that in the 6 years before the epidemic (2014-2019), the total number of domestic visitors was 5-7 times higher than the number of international visitors, but revenue from international visitors was 1.4 times higher. 1.6 times. The cost of travel in Vietnam for international tourists at this stage is also 5-9 times higher than for Vietnamese tourists.
According to the General Statistics Office, in 2019, the average domestic visitor spent 45.25 USD a day. Meanwhile, international visitors spend 132 USD a day – 3 times more. The top 10 customer markets with the most spending in Vietnam before the epidemic were the Philippines, Belgium, USA, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Spain, according to the 2022 Statistical Yearbook of the General Statistics Office. list.
General Secretary of the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) Vu Quoc Tri said that the added value to GDP brought by tourism largely comes from international visitors.
Many people believe that the more Vietnamese tourists travel domestically, the more the economy will develop. “But that’s not the case,” Mr. Tri said, because domestic tourists make money domestically and then travel domestically, making the macroeconomic impact “not much”. If Vietnam and other countries want to increase the economic contribution of tourism to GDP, they need international visitors.
According to Mr. Chinh, international visitors also promote trade exchanges, investment and air transport. They directly promote the national image, enhance international exchanges, tighten friendship, and enhance the image and position of Vietnamese tourism on the world tourism map.
Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam has strengths in natural and cultural resources to develop tourism. According to research by TAB and the Swiss Sustainable Tourism Project (SSTP), the three main reasons for tourists to visit Vietnam include the country’s cultural diversity and cultural heritage (87.5 %); nature and natural wonders (62.5%); food and cuisine (58.3%). In the 2021 Tourism Development Ranking of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Vietnam ranks 24th in natural resources and 25th in cultural resources, among the leading group out of 117 countries. family.
The Government has supported the tourism industry to attract international tourists such as increasing the electronic visa (e-visa) term from 30 to 90 days; Extend the stay period to 45 days for citizens of 13 countries. According to Mr. Tri, if it is easy for guests to enter (relaxed visa policy) but when they arrive there is nothing to do, they will leave again. Therefore, in parallel with the loosening of visa policies, the Vietnamese tourism industry needs to have unique and specific products for each international tourist market to retain visitors who stay long and spend a lot.
International visitors play an important role, but Vietnam has not yet exploited its full potential to attract large numbers of visitors and spend as much as other countries in the region. Compared to 10 Southeast Asian countries (excluding East Timor), Vietnam’s number of visitors and tourism revenue in the 10 years before the epidemic ranked fifth, on average, after Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Regarding international visitor revenue to GDP, over the past 10 years, Vietnam has also had a steady growth rate, from 3.2% in 2010 to 5.32% in 2019. 2019 is also the year the Vietnamese tourism industry has revenue from visitors. international GDP to GDP was the highest in the 10 years before the epidemic, ranking fourth in Southeast Asia. In the remaining years, Vietnam is usually in the top 5 or 6.
According to Mr. Chinh, Vietnamese tourism needs to have short, medium and long-term plans to attract tourists. For short-term plans, Vietnam needs to improve and simplify visa regulations as well as improve air access, encouraging more direct flights from key markets. Aviation and tourism need to increase cooperation as well as reduce service fees at international airports.
With a medium-term strategy, the industry needs to develop responsible tourism products, increase visitors’ length of stay and spend more, as well as promote and innovate marketing and tourism promotion campaigns. Officials also need to strengthen sustainable and friendly destination management, thereby helping to increase guest experience and attract them to return to the destination more. Digital transformation in tourism also needs to be promoted to meet the needs and new trends of visitors after the epidemic.
Investing and upgrading transport and tourism infrastructure, expanding more road routes to tourist destinations and international airports is the long-term strategy that the industry needs to aim for. After the epidemic, tourism human resources are both lacking and weak, so it is necessary to promote the training of highly skilled human resources to meet the high demands of customers.
Airline ticket prices in 2024 will increase, causing tour prices to increase, possibly causing the number of international visitors to Vietnam to slow down, Mr. Chinh said, saying that this is “a reality many countries also encounter”. In Thailand, from July 2023, the Prime Minister has asked the Ministry of Transport to provide solutions to reduce airfare costs. In February this year, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) researched to find the cause and developed a solution plan. Thailand has allocated funding to support prices up to 40% of the value of air tickets and accommodation costs for 2 million round-trip air tickets and 5 million nights of accommodation.
Vietnam can also do the same to promote and develop aviation tourism by offering combo packages of air tickets, room vouchers, and amusement park tickets at good prices. In addition to widely publicizing the market, the tourism industry needs to choose reputable accommodation establishments to participate in this stimulus program. Mr. Chinh believes that with this approach, Vietnamese destinations will be more attractive and attract international visitors.
“The number of international visitors and revenue is the measure of success of the tourism industry in most countries, not just Vietnam,” said AZA Travel CEO Nguyen Tien Dat.