European and Australian visitors increase
Ms. Phan Thi Ngoc Lan - General Director of Hoi An Beach Resort informed that since the beginning of the year, the number of guests registering to stay at the hotel has been quite large, averaging over 50%, most of them coming from the European and Australian markets, at some times the room occupancy rate reached over 90%.
“Hoi An Beach has 121 rooms, the selling price is about 1.3 million/room/day and night, so the above growth rate is very encouraging for the business compared to the past few years” - Ms. Lan shared. In 2023, Hoi An Beach's room occupancy rate will only reach nearly 40%.
According to Ms. Lan, the factors that make European and Australian tourists return to Hoi An in large numbers are first of all the attractive, safe, and friendly destination brand... Besides, some European airlines, after a period of stagnation due to the impact of the epidemic, conflicts, and economic crisis, have begun to increase promotions and stimulate demand, helping to make air tickets more affordable.
However, the key is the flexible visa policy, which helps tourists have more time on their sightseeing trips when coming to Vietnam. “At Hoi An Beach, the average stay of European and Australian tourists is 3-4 nights, some even register to stay for 10-15 days, in some cases over 20 days,” said Ms. Lan.
A preliminary survey of some businesses and tourist attractions in Hoi An City showed that most of them saw a large number of European and Australian visitors returning, mainly the elderly. Some popular destinations include Tra Que vegetable village, Thanh Ha pottery, Cam Thanh coconut forest, etc.
In Tra Que vegetable village alone, it is estimated that in the first 3 months of the year, more than 7,000 European and Australian visitors were welcomed, an increase of nearly 122% compared to the same period in 2023, and even about 11% higher than the same period in 2019. Similarly, in Cam Thanh coconut forest, European visitors have risen to the second position in the visitor structure, after Koreans and above Vietnamese visitors.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Tuan - Director of Hoi An DMC Tourism Company Limited acknowledged that more European tourists are returning to Hoi An, especially German, French and Australian tourists.
“European tourist groups are often large in number, stay for a long time, use high-end, environmentally friendly services, and spend a lot of money,” Mr. Tuan commented.
This week, DMC welcomed 8 European delegations with nearly 500 people, mainly participating in agricultural tourism experiences such as learning to be a farmer, learning to cook at Tra Que vegetable village, exploring the countryside, craft villages of Hoi An, Dien Ban, Duy Xuyen...
Korean visitors decline
From the beginning, Quang Nam identified Europe, America, and Australia as the main traditional markets because they are suitable for local cultural and ecological tourism products.
However, in the past 10 years, Chinese and Korean tourists have taken turns to occupy the first and second positions in the total structure of visitors to Quang Nam. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, some new tourist markets have appeared such as India, Taiwan, Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand...) but are not significant.
In 2023, Quang Nam will welcome more than 7.5 million visitors, of which the 10 largest international tourist markets to Quang Nam are South Korea, China, Australia, UK, Malaysia, USA, France, Germany, Thailand, and India.
In 2024, these locations are expected to change as Korean tourists tend to move to Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Da Lat...
According to a representative of Shilla Monogram Quang Nam Da Nang Hotel (Dien Ngoc Ward, Dien Ban), if in 2023, the average hotel room occupancy rate reached 70 - 80%, in the first 3 months of the year, the number of guests registered to stay was only about 30% (more than 80% of guests staying at Shilla Monogram were Korean). Similarly, at Citadines Pearl Hoi An Resort, the number of Korean guests staying also decreased by 10 - 20% compared to the same period.
There have been predictions about a decline in the Korean tourist market based on tourism psychology and the growth cycle of this tourist stream (average 5-7 years).
In addition, the emergence of coastal resort tourism centers in the region such as Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, etc. has further promoted the movement of Korean tourists to the new land. In fact, although Korean tourists do not stay much in Quang Nam (except for some coastal hotels), on the contrary, tourist attractions in Hoi An benefit greatly from this influx of tourists.
It is estimated that in the first 3 months of the year, Thanh Ha pottery village welcomed about 193 thousand visitors, more than 80% of whom were Korean visitors. In particular, Cam Thanh coconut forest welcomed more than 241 thousand visitors, more than 60% of whom were Korean visitors...
Therefore, the decline in Korean tourists will certainly have certain impacts on Quang Nam tourist destinations if the locality and businesses do not quickly diversify the tourist market as well as upgrade and renew products and services.
Recently, some accommodation establishments such as Citadines Pearl Hoi An or Shilla Monogram have started to focus more on the Australian, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese markets to maintain business operations.
Among them, Australian tourists are emerging as a potential market due to their rapid and stable growth, long-term stay, and suitability with existing Quang Nam tourism products and services.
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