Airfare prices are still "escalating", Thanh Hoa tourism is still booming throughout the summer

Sam Son Beach Square is crowded with tourists during the April 30 holiday

The news that Thanh Hoa surpassed Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and many other tourism- developed localities such as Quang Ninh, Da Nang,... in both the number of visitors and tourism revenue on the occasion of April 30th received much attention.

According to data from the National Tourism Administration, during the April 30-May 1 holiday, Thanh Hoa was the locality that welcomed the most visitors in the country with over 1.5 million arrivals - a record number, up more than 27% over the same period. The total tourism revenue of the locality during the holiday reached over VND3,800 billion, up nearly 33% compared to 2023.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Hong Long - Head of the Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, assessed that the record numbers are clear evidence for the development of Thanh Hoa tourism.

"In recent years, Thanh Hoa has gradually erased negative information such as waste, overcharging, and soliciting tourists. This province is having synchronous coordination between many local departments to quickly create a fair competitive position with localities with very strong tourism such as Da Nang, Quang Ninh, and Hanoi," Mr. Long assessed.

According to Mr. Long and representatives of many businesses, the number of visitors to Thanh Hoa will not only explode during the April 30 holiday but will maintain the top position throughout the peak summer season of 2024.

"The figures from the recent holiday were surprising but not a temporary spike," said Mr. Long.

Airfares are still high, but Thanh Hoa still attracts a large number of visitors.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Hong Long highly appreciated Thanh Hoa's efforts in proactively promoting and linking tourism with localities in the Red River Delta (Hanoi, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh), the Northwest and North Central regions (Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue). These have become abundant sources of road visitors for Thanh Hoa. With convenient transportation, synchronous development of both roads and railways, and a geographical location on the North-South traffic axis, Thanh Hoa is truly becoming a "center" attracting tourists in the North and North Central regions.

Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, representative of Vietluxtour Travel Company, said that Thanh Hoa tourism products are one of the company's key domestic tourism products in the summer of 2024, especially MICE groups. In the context of high domestic airfares, the infrastructure of tourist routes to Thanh Hoa is one of the very favorable factors to attract visitors from the North. In addition, Thanh Hoa has Sam Son beach with a long, beautiful coastline, ideal for organizing joint activities of business groups.

Ms. Thu assessed that the demand of the group and individual tourist markets in Thanh Hoa in the summer will still be very high. On weekends, hotels and restaurants often serve at 100% capacity.

Agreeing that airfare is a factor contributing to the growth of tourists coming to Thanh Hoa by road and rail, Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy - Chairman of Sun Group in the North emphasized that Thanh Hoa tourism is growing thanks to the diversity of tourism products such as swimming in Sam Son and Hai Tien beaches, mountain resorts in Ben En and Pu Luong, or visiting famous historical sites such as Ho Dynasty Citadel, Lam Kinh, Am Tien, community tourism...

"In my opinion, high airfares are just one of the reasons why tourists tend to travel nearby. Because even when competing between nearby markets, tourists will choose attractive destinations with new tourism products, constantly increasing new experiences, constantly improving service quality and prices. Thanh Hoa in general and Sam Son in particular are doing this well. In the 2024 summer tourist season, many new experiences are waiting for tourists in Sam Son: Having fun at Sam Son Beach Square, watching free water music, having fun at the complex park," said Mr. Huy.

Sam Son beach is expected to continue to attract visitors this summer.

Lots of customers but revenue is not commensurate

According to statistics from the April 30 holiday, if compared with localities nationwide with high revenue during this holiday such as: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Quang Ninh... the average spending per visitor to Thanh Hoa is still only at a moderate level, about 1.73 million VND/visitor/day for overnight visitors; for day visitors it is about 550 thousand VND/visitor.

"Although Thanh Hoa tourism has developed, it is not really sustainable, the added value is low, and not commensurate with the province's potential and strengths," Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Hong Long commented.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Hong Long said that low tourism costs are a factor that helps Thanh Hoa compete well with many other localities. However, low costs are "both a strength and a weakness" of Thanh Hoa.

"Sometimes, having a small number of customers but high revenue is more successful. Because if the number of customers is too large, it will put pressure on the local infrastructure, environment, and human resources. So I think, in the coming time, Thanh Hoa must have solutions to approach and attract a higher-end customer group. It must be admitted that, currently, the quality of Thanh Hoa's products and services has not yet met this customer group well," said Mr. Long.

From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu - General Director of Vitamin Tours also said that the current limitation of Thanh Hoa tourism is the lack of attractive products for customers with high spending ability.

Mr. Hieu gave an example that the number of resorts and 5-star hotels in Thanh Hoa is still modest. Meanwhile, accommodation costs often account for half or two-thirds of tourists' spending. "Thanh Hoa needs to focus on attracting investment and building more high-end resorts, thereby attracting other services to develop such as dining, entertainment, etc. so that visitors can comfortably "open their wallets", increasing revenue for the tourism industry," Mr. Hieu said.

This representative also said that to attract tourists all year round, Thanh Hoa tourism needs to exploit tourism potential evenly in all types, from sea tourism to spiritual tourism, eco-tourism, community tourism,... from east to west.

W-347263002 242654295121610 7734052194415085866 n 1197.jpg — Besides the sea, Thanh Hoa has a lot of potential for exploiting hot mineral spring resort tourism, mountain and forest tourism, ecological tourism, agriculture, cultural, historical and spiritual tourism, etc.

According to Mr. Quang Huy - Chairman of Sun Group in the North, although it has achieved remarkable achievements, compared to its available potential, Thanh Hoa tourism still has a lot of room for development.

"As we can see, during the recent holiday, tourists mainly flocked to coastal tourist destinations. While Thanh Hoa still has a lot of potential for exploiting hot mineral spring resort tourism, mountain and forest tourism, or eco-tourism, agriculture, cultural history, spirituality, etc.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Hong Long said that Thanh Hoa must also address weaknesses such as: Human resources, especially high-quality labor, are both lacking and weak, with low professionalism; There is no strategy or synchronous solution for tourism development; Experience in management, administration, and operation in the tourism sector is still limited; Tourism products are generally monotonous (especially souvenir products), only focusing on exploiting beach resort products, not yet exploiting resource values such as heritage, culture, ecology, etc.

Ms. Vuong Thi Hai Yen - Deputy Director of Thanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism agreed with the opinion: The number of tourists to Thanh Hoa is high but total tourism revenue is not really commensurate.

"In the coming time, we will focus on a number of solutions to increase tourism revenue, such as:

- Continue to attract investment and speed up the progress of major projects to gradually form diverse and high-class service complexes in tourist areas, including the Quang Yen Hot Spring Resort Complex Project; Ben En tourist area and resorts in coastal tourist areas.

- Encourage the formation and development of resort tourism products, medical treatment, high-end entertainment and casino (in isolated areas), cruise tourism through Nghi Son Port, high-speed cruise routes to Ne Island, Me Island, night-time economic tourism...

- Organizing events, art programs, sea sports activities (golf, beach volleyball, beach soccer, surfing, sailing...),

- Develop new tourism programs to connect tourist destinations in the province, increase experiences at each destination, extend tourists' stay; put into operation and offer adventure tours (trecking tours).

- Strengthen tourism promotion and advertising, expand the tourist market, especially international tourists, high-paying tourists, and MICE tourists after high-end tourism complexes are formed and put into operation," said Ms. Yen.

To prepare for this peak tourist season, Thanh Hoa has been focusing on: Maintaining conditions for welcoming and receiving tourists safely, attractively, civilly and friendly; Focusing on improving the quality of professional and high-quality tourism human resources; Paying attention to behavioral culture and service style; Supporting the application of information technology in management, operation and exploitation of tourism development; Continuing to organize tourism stimulus programs; promotional campaigns with the message "Thanh Hoa tourism - four seasons of fragrance" and "Thanh Hoa tourism, a safe and attractive destination" at domestic and international events; Strengthening state management of tourism; focusing on service management, inspection, examination, supervision, timely detection and strict handling of violations of the law on tourism business; controlling the public disclosure of service prices according to regulations and selling at the correct listed price.

TH (according to Vietnamnet)

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