The high summer season is coming to an end, but the flow of international visitors still has many bottlenecks to develop again. It also means that accommodation systems and destinations still face many problems.
Under the “Connecting the Power of Vietnam’s Tourism in 2022” program, which was held on Aug. 8, companies said the goal of 5 million international visitors would be very difficult if the bottlenecks in visa, infrastructure and human resources are lifted. not be fully resolved.
Incomplete recovery
Ms. Cao Tuyet Lan, director of travel company Viettours, said that although Vietnam has declared it to be fully open, it is extremely difficult for international visitors to enter.
“Not to mention foreign customers, even business partners in making visas is also extremely difficult. We have to register for an order number with the Immigration Department and wait a week to submit the application. It is a business customer with a clear position. How hard will it be for ordinary visitors, what kind of visitors come to Vietnam? The high season at the end of the year is for international visitors, if they don’t solve the problems quickly. This “bottleneck” will not be able to get a large number of visitors,” said Ms. Lan.
Mr. Phung Quang Thang, director of Hanoitourist Travel Company, noted that the income structure of 18 million international tourists to Vietnam in 2019 is still high compared to the income of 85 million domestic tourists, and stressed that the international market needs to get well recognized to provide timely solutions.
According to Mr Vo Anh Tai – deputy director of Saigontourist Group, it is difficult to judge whether tourism has recovered with the current low number of international tourists. Because normally 80% of the room capacity in the accommodation institutions under the Saigontourist system depends on international guests.
Should change the way of promotion
In that context, in many places the tourist infrastructure has not really recovered and promotion activities are slow, which is a major concern for companies.
Mr. Vo Anh Tai suggested that places should have plans to develop products, conferences and seminars not only about tourism, but also more programs and events about diplomacy, culture and sports… in order to create favorable conditions for Vietnam to host tourist groups to receive (MICE tourism) from the main markets.
Cao Tri Dung, chairman of the Danang Tourism Association, said that with the current difficulties, the goal of 2 million international visitors by 2022 is also a challenge, not to mention the goal of 5 million. Visa is the headache story of tourism in the central region. But at present, Vietnamese tourism needs to build digital platforms on large databases, use public platforms to directly reach users, change the way of promotion.
“In addition to traditional promotional activities such as organizing roadshows, participating in international trade fairs… it is necessary to promote promotion through digital transformation channels. International visitors criticize Bali for being old, but they can’t find a destination. Many tourism products in Vietnam are doing very well, but how can this information reach tourists?” asked Mr. Dung.
Untie Visa Buttons
Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, General Manager of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, confirmed that the entire country received 733,400 international visitors in the first 7 months of the year, reaching nearly 15% of the target of 5 million visitors. In addition to the objective reason that the first months of the year are not the peak of tourism in Vietnam, according to Mr Khanh, epidemic prevention policies of various countries still exist in the efforts to renew products of enterprises, the shortage of personnel. ..
However, Mr Vu The Binh, chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, bluntly said, although Vietnam has announced its opening, many parts have not been in reality. International visitors have not yet received favorable conditions to enter Vietnam. Therefore, in the near future, the association will continue to propose to extend the visa waiver period to 30 days, even 60 days, instead of 15 days now.
“Restoring and developing international tourism in Vietnam is not only an urgent need of more than 40,000 companies and more than 2 million tourists, but also an urgent need of millions of people and tens of thousands of tourists. Service companies depend on the tourism industry,” said Mr. binh.
In dialogue with companies, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said that international visitors have not reached the desired level, but at the moment there are 2 remarkable statistics. According to statistics from the General Bureau of Statistics, the number of international visitors reached 950,000, a tenfold increase in 2021. Detailed measurements of the tourism industry show that the number of international visitors has increased by 15%.
Despite the desire to open up, tourism in Vietnam still relies on the policies and opening of countries. Currently, the armed conflicts between Russia and Ukraine have hit one of the major well-known markets. The Japanese and Korean markets also focus on disease prevention.
@ cafefu
