Solving the problem of price pressure and profit

The media is reporting loudly about the group of 4,500 Indian tourists - the largest number of visitors to this market ever - coming to Vietnam. The group is divided into several groups, visiting and exploring Hanoi, Trang An (Ninh Binh) and Ha Long (Quang Ninh) from August 27 to September 3.

In addition to the important significance in promoting the image of the country as well as famous destinations and scenic spots in Vietnam, this is also a great opportunity for us to attract a huge source of visitors from this South Asian country of more than 1 billion people.

Mr. Vu Quoc Tri, General Secretary of the Vietnam Tourism Association, acknowledged that Vietnam is in the early stages of developing MICE tourism (tourism combined with organizing events, conferences, seminars, etc.) so there are still many uncertainties and need to learn, but in the long term, we must think to develop towards professionalism because MICE tourism has become a trend, and some countries even identify it as the MICE industry.

According to Mr. Tri, the 4,500-person Indian tourist group is a test, thereby revealing issues that Vietnamese tourism needs to pay attention to and solve.

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The first Indian tourists in a group of 4,500 people to travel to Vietnam. Photo: Thach Thao

Identifying the weaknesses of MICE tourism in Vietnam, Mr. Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, said that the infrastructure has not been able to meet the needs of large groups of thousands of people; the connection and cooperation between destinations and service providers are not good; and the country's MICE destination positioning is lacking. Therefore, when participating in international fairs, he saw that partners were hesitant to choose to organize MICE groups to Vietnam.

Furthermore, although Vietnam welcomes thousands of Indian tourists, in reality the revenue is not large.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoang, Vice President of the Vietnam MICE Tourism Club, said that Indian tourists in general and this group of 4,500 people only used vehicles and tour guides from Vietnamese travel companies; restaurants, 11 5-star hotels in Hanoi, services at destinations such as cruises in Ha Long... were directly handled by Indian partners.

The Indian side always asks from 5 to 7, even 10 units to get quotes, then they take the lowest price and go back to the hotel or restaurant that is offering the price to bargain.

“In a fiercely competitive price war, to welcome such a large group of guests, no one can refuse, so travel agencies, restaurants, and accommodation facilities all have to agree to prices equal to or lower than those applied to domestic partners,” said Mr. Hoang.

Of course, Mr. Hoang assessed that 4,500 guests is also a large number, every destination wants to serve them, but in the end, the total revenue is not worth much.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Trinh Le Anh - lecturer at the Faculty of Tourism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities - commented that Indian tourist groups have very special requirements, even very difficult to meet, but the value they bring is not high because they use large numbers to squeeze the price of the destination. This is a big problem for MICE suppliers and tourism units in Vietnam.

Not yet positioned as a MICE destination

Among Vietnam's weaknesses, CEO Pham Ha especially emphasized that Vietnam has not yet positioned itself as a destination for MICE tourism.

The problem lies in the fact that we have not yet positioned the MICE destination in the eyes of international MICE organizers; there is no agency or department specializing in MICE to speak the same language, thereby supporting customers.

Mr. Ha cited Thailand as an example of a competitor. They have long positioned themselves as the leading country in MICE tourism in Asia, with close connections between the state agency, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and service providers; promotion and communication are very good at all international fairs. Meanwhile, Vietnam has such great tourism potential, a long coastline, international convention centers, has organized major events and welcomed many delegations, ... but we still have not been able to do it.

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MICE Expo is an event that brings together many partners and service providers in the MICE tourism chain. Photo: VMC

From practical operations, Ms. Le Thi Hong Hanh, Director of Vietluxtour's Hanoi branch, also said that when her unit organized MICE in Thailand or Singapore, the governments of these countries always had comprehensive and long-term vision policies to attract MICE guests, with many incentives such as gifts from tourists, ways to welcome groups, other supports, etc.

Vietnam's MICE tourism needs the participation and support of management agencies and local authorities, in addition to necessary infrastructure and services, to develop, she suggested.

According to Dr. Trinh Le Anh, the more countries you visit, the more you see that Vietnam is an emerging market that attracts MICE guests because of its novelty. However, in the long term, he believes that we need to have high-class services, 4-5 stars and more; professional and specialized staff; have more large conference rooms for over 1,000 people, etc.

“After Covid-19, tourism human resources are a serious problem, very lacking and weak, especially specialized human resources when Vietnam still does not have any university that specializes in MICE or event tourism,” said Mr. Anh.

Meanwhile, we do not have any research and statistics on the percentage of MICE guests, which international markets are key, the conditions to meet, the benefits, etc., and no one has done it.

Vietnam's MICE market will develop strongly in both domestic and international segments, but the proportion from domestic will be higher, and in the international segment we will attract a large number of visitors from Asia thanks to the advantage of airfare costs. Therefore, to develop MICE tourism, Vietnam should focus on the domestic market and Asian countries.

(Ms. Le Thi Hong Hanh, Vietluxtour)

Looking at the Vietnam tourism map, 60-70% of international visitors come from Asia, with nearby markets such as Northeast Asia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan (China), India, etc., so attracting and organizing MICE is easiest; and distant markets can attract luxury MICE guests, small groups of 100-200 guests, maximum 500 guests such as the US, Canada, Eastern and Western European countries, etc., our country's infrastructure is very suitable.

(Mr. Pham Ha, LuxGroup)

More than 500 tourism businesses participate in MICE Expo 2024

On the morning of August 30, the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) and the Vietnam MICE Club (VMC) introduced the 2024 MICE Tourism Business Connection Event program called: MICE EXPO 2024. The event will take place on September 27 at the National Convention Center.

The event is expected to attract 500 businesses and 800 delegates, creating a good opportunity for businesses to introduce and promote their products and together identify trends, build action plans for the coming time as well as "position the Vietnamese MICE tourism brand on the world MICE tourism map".