Vietnam tourism in 2023 has made many efforts to overcome difficulties, achieved many results, and reached the target of welcoming domestic and foreign visitors. However, to achieve the goal set for 2024, there is still a lot of work to do.
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| Bay Mau Coconut Forest, Cam Thanh, Hoi An is an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists. (Source: VNA) |
According to the report of the National Tourism Administration, in 2023, the total number of international tourists reached 12.6 million, reaching the adjusted target (12 - 13 million) of 2023. The number of domestic tourists reached 108.2 million; exceeding 6.0% compared to the 2023 plan. Total revenue from tourism reached 678.3 trillion VND, exceeding 4.35% compared to the 2023 plan.
However, according to some experts, we have had to struggle to reach the set goals. In 2023, the number of domestic tourists exceeded 2022, but the number of tourists on tours decreased sharply due to the global economic recession. Tourists travel independently or buy part of the tour such as room and hotel combos. Instead of traveling long distances, tourists choose day trips, short trips and nearby destinations.
Spending on tourism is also more economical. Therefore, businesses in the service sector are facing difficulties due to a sharp decrease in the number of tourists. Some travel companies have reduced by up to 50% compared to 2022.
In Vietnam as well as other countries in the world, the number of international visitors and revenue are considered the "measure of success" of most countries' tourism industries. International visitors bring foreign currency, making an important contribution to the country's GDP. In 2019, the golden year of Vietnamese tourism, there were 18 million international visitors and 85 million domestic visitors. Total revenue from tourism reached more than 726,000 billion VND, directly contributing 9.2% of GDP.
Although this year we have exceeded the target set at the beginning of the year of 8 million and completed the adjusted target in October of 12.5-13 million arrivals, tourism revenue is still not high, estimated at 421,000 billion VND, accounting for 55.7% of total tourism revenue.
As a country with a long history and rich cultural traditions, beautiful natural landscapes are great potentials for us to develop tourism. In particular, in 2023, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will continue to be honored to receive the title of "Asia's Leading Tourism Management Agency 2023" for the 4th time after 2017, 2021 and 2022.
At the Global Awards Ceremony, Vietnam continued to be honored as the "World's Leading Heritage Destination" by the World Travel Awards (WTA). Also at the ceremony, many destinations and Vietnamese tourism businesses also received many other prestigious awards. Tan Hoa Tourist Village (Quang Binh) was honored to receive the "Best Tourist Village" award from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
These are good conditions for us to enhance the image and position of Vietnam on the world tourism map. However, according to experts, entering 2024, the world situation continues to be unpredictable, economic growth is slow, inflation is increasing, conflicts in regions show no signs of cooling down... will be significant obstacles to tourism recovery in 2024. Moreover, the needs of international tourists are constantly changing, requiring increasingly high product quality, experience, diversity, uniqueness... this is still a weak issue in Vietnam.
Perhaps that is why, in the meeting on March 15, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh commented that "Vietnam's tourism is ahead and behind". Vietnam opened its doors earlier than many countries in the region but has not been successful in attracting international visitors. Compared to some countries in the region, we are still far behind because we lack short, medium and long-term strategies.
To reposition the national tourism brand and achieve the goal of welcoming 17-18 million international visitors; serving 110 million domestic tourists; total revenue from tourists reaching about 840 trillion VND by 2024, there is still a lot to do, but perhaps the first thing is that we need to implement key programs and projects, build a green tourism action program, implement action programs, encourage the development of new tourism products, build marketing campaigns, implement promotional activities at home and abroad.
In particular, it is necessary to pay special attention to promoting and advertising tourism in key markets. According to experts, currently, Vietnam's tourism promotion campaign to the international market is still considered "vague" and "lacking in appeal". Most international visitors to Vietnam do not come through official promotion channels but through social networks, KOLs (people with influence on the internet) review that they come to Vietnam mostly through word of mouth and videos that visitors record and post.
In addition, high-quality human resources in the tourism industry is also an urgent issue that needs to be solved. After the pandemic, many people who have worked in the industry for a long time have changed jobs, leading to a shortage of human resources and low quality human resources due to a large number of new recruits.
For Vietnam tourism to truly generate the expected revenue, especially from international tourists, we need to re-segment customers, directing international visitors to luxurious destinations rich in culture and heritage instead of cheap destinations like before.
According to 2019 statistics, Chinese tourists to Vietnam accounted for more than 30% of the total 18 million international visitors. However, most of them went on zero-dong or low-cost tours, which did not bring in much money for Vietnamese tourism.
According to experts, zero-dollar tours should be limited or eliminated. One of the consequences of this type of tour is that tourists are taken shopping more than visiting tourist attractions, leaving them with little impression of Vietnam and not wanting to return.
In addition, Vietnam also needs to manage destinations well; attract visitors from new and wealthy markets such as the Middle East, New Zealand, Australia, and Northern Europe; plan to develop the night-time economy effectively; and create new tourism products with regional characteristics.
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