Vietnamese tourists flock to foreign countries

Vietnamese tourists check in with cherry blossoms in Fukushima in early April

Domestic travel agencies say that in the past two years, mid-range foreign tours and combo tours have shown no signs of cooling down. Some destinations in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia are the top choices of Vietnamese tourists because of their affordable prices, overwhelming domestic tours in the context of rising domestic airfares.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization in Vietnam (JNTO), in the first two months of the year, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan reached more than 107,000, an increase of 40% over the same period in 2019. The number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan in February was the highest ever, exceeding 60,000. The previous highest month was February 2023 with 55,800 visitors.

JNTO representative said that the sudden increase in Vietnamese visitors to Japan in February was due to the long Lunar New Year holiday, the depreciation of the yen, making tours to Japan cheaper than before the pandemic, and the increasing popularity of Vietnamese visitors to Japan. The number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan in March and April has not been announced yet, but is expected to increase because of the cherry blossom season.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Hoang, CEO of Klook Vietnam, said that this online travel platform recorded a 63% increase in demand for travel to Northeast Asia from Vietnamese tourists in March - the time when cherry blossoms are in full bloom. 87% of tourists surveyed said they would spend an entire trip just to see the flowers in bloom. Mr. Huy Hoang said that tourists are willing to invest time and spend a lot of money on spring flower viewing trips. More than half of Vietnamese users on the Klook platform want to spend about 2 weeks traveling during the cherry blossom season and spend an average of up to 2,500 USD.

Taiwan and South Korea also recorded an increase in the number of Vietnamese visitors in the first quarter. In January alone, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Taiwan reached 17,110, ranking 10th in the top 10 key markets, according to statistics from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said that in the first quarter, nearly 120,000 Vietnamese tourists visited the country, up 38.9% over the same period in 2023 and up 8.5% over the same period in 2019. In 2023, Vietnam was the leading market in Southeast Asia in terms of the number of tourists in general and MICE tourists in particular to Korea. In 2023, Korea welcomed more than 420,000 Vietnamese tourists.

In order to attract Vietnamese tourists, KTO is promoting the 100 most attractive destinations in Korea, including Gangwon, where Vietnamese tourists are exempt from visas if they come to Gangwon via Yangyang International Airport.

Mr. Thi Quoc Duy, Director of BenThanh Tourist's retail travel center, said that during the April 30 holiday and the upcoming summer, the company's tours to Japan and Korea received the most attention and bookings. Next were Southeast Asian travel programs to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand and Singapore are still traditional markets for Vietnamese tourists.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said that in the first two months of the year, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Thailand reached 130,413, down 7% compared to the first two months of 2023 (140,919). However, the number of visitors tends to increase in the upcoming summer months. The Tourism Authority of Thailand considers Vietnam an important short-haul outbound tourism market for Thai tourism. In 2023, the number of Vietnamese visitors in the top 10 markets to Thailand will be in the 7-digit group (millions of visitors) with more than 1 million visitors. This figure is 96% compared to 2019.

Vietnamese tourists attend the Songkran festival in Bangkok on April 12.

Singapore also recorded growth in Vietnamese visitors in the first quarter. A representative of the Singapore Tourism Board said that as of March 24, the number of Vietnamese visitors reached 93,060, an increase of more than 2,000 compared to the first quarter of 2023, equal to 40% compared to the first quarter of 2019 (211,250). In 2023, the number of Vietnamese visitors to and from Changi International Airport ranked 9th in the top 10 international visitor markets to this airport.

Surveys at two major tourism events held in April, the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival and the Vietnam International Tourism Day (VITM) in Hanoi, showed that international tours outnumbered domestic tours. Mr. Bui Thanh Tu, Marketing Director of Best Price, confirmed that customers at the two events mainly bought tours to China and Thailand, with low to medium prices.

Hoang Viet Travel representative said domestic products only accounted for 25% of revenue after 4 days at VITM fair, while China tours accounted for 35%, markets such as Japan, Europe, and the US contributed 40%.

HA (according to VnE)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/khach-viet-do-xo-di-nuoc-ngoai-379415.html