Summer Travel Season: Changes as Travel Trends Change

International tourists to Hanoi increased over the same period.

Bright colors

The tourism industry's goal in 2024 is to welcome 17-18 million international visitors; serve 110 million domestic tourists; and total revenue from tourists reaches about VND840,000 billion.

To achieve this goal, many localities have implemented many measures since the beginning of the year, opening new tourism products. After 6 months of implementation, tourism activities of many localities have shown bright colors in terms of number of visitors and revenue, affirming the destination brand.

Specifically, in the first 6 months of the year, Ho Chi Minh City tourism is estimated to welcome more than 17 million domestic tourists and more than 2.67 million international tourists. Total tourism revenue increased by about 14.6% over the same period in 2023.

In Hanoi, according to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, in the first 6 months of 2024, the total number of tourists to Hanoi is estimated at 14.05 million, an increase of 13.7% over the same period in 2023. Of which, international tourists are estimated at 3.14 million, an increase of 52.6% over the same period last year (including 2.21 million international tourists with accommodation); domestic tourists are estimated at 10.3 million, an increase of 6%; total revenue from tourists is estimated at VND 55,385 billion, an increase of 22.8%.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tuyen Quang, in the first 6 months of the year, Tuyen Quang welcomed over 1.8 million tourists coming to stay, visit and relax, reaching 67.6% of the plan, up 2% over the same period in 2023. Total revenue from tourism activities in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated at 2,271 billion VND, accounting for 63.1% of the plan, up 9% over the same period in 2023.

Quang Ninh province, the total number of tourists is estimated at 10.4 million, up 18% over the same period, of which international visitors are estimated at nearly 2 million, up 140% over the same period. Total tourism revenue is estimated at 22,285 billion VND, up 34% over the same period.

According to the report of the Da Nang Department of Tourism, in the first 5 months of 2024, the city's tourism activities achieved positive figures compared to the same period last year. The number of visitors served by accommodation establishments is estimated at 3.78 million, an increase of more than 22% over the same period in 2023, of which international visitors are estimated at more than 1.5 million; domestic visitors are estimated at more than 2.28 million.

The tourism picture of the Mekong Delta region also has many bright spots. Bac Lieu province, with its strengths in cultural tourism and eco-experiences, welcomed over 3.1 million visitors, of which over 1.2 million used accommodation services. Dong Thap welcomed over 2.8 million visitors, with revenue reaching over VND 1,130 billion, an increase of over 8% over the same period in 2023.

Ben Tre tourism welcomed nearly 1.3 million visitors, reaching more than 52% of the yearly plan, up over 18% over the same period, total revenue from tourism reached over 1,590 billion VND.

Kien Giang province is estimated to welcome over 5.4 million visitors, with total tourism revenue reaching over VND 13,390 billion, an increase of nearly 28% over the same period in 2023.

Beach tourism is still chosen by many families.

Continue to attract tourists

At this time, many localities with strengths in coastal tourism are "expanding" to welcome domestic and foreign tourists. Recently, the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center cooperated with Traveloka to announce the tourism stimulus program "Enjoy Da Nang 2024" on Traveloka's application platform. This is an initiative to attract more tourists to Da Nang through attractive promotions and valuable incentives, based on Traveloka's large and trusted partner ecosystem.

Participating in the program "Enjoy Da Nang 2024" as a strategic partner of the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center shows that the cooperation is truly substantive, bringing benefits to both sides through mutual support and stimulating tourism in the City.

Da Nang is considered a strategic tourism development locality with impressive figures. On the way to building the brand as "City of events and festivals", in 2024, Da Nang continues to bring visitors a series of unique events and festivals such as Da Nang International Fireworks Festival, Da Nang Enjoy Festival, Da Nang International Marathon 2024, BRG Open Golf Championship Danang 2024...

Sharing about solutions to attract tourists during the summer tourist season, a representative of the Department of Tourism of Kien Giang - one of the key tourist localities in the Mekong Delta, informed: Kien Giang tourism promotes the implementation of the program "Vietnamese people travel to Vietnam - Vietnam I love" launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, encouraging and creating all favorable conditions for travel, accommodation and resort businesses to actively innovate products, widely inform about high-quality service product "packages", increase the experience of tourists at prominent destinations such as Phu Quoc, Ha Tien, Kien Luong. Kien Giang tourism strives to welcome 9.2 million domestic and international visitors in 2024, continuing to affirm its position as an attractive destination on the domestic and international tourism map.

Right in Hanoi, the tourism industry is also striving to create new tourism products. Recently, to increase the attractiveness and attract more and more tourists to the capital, the Hanoi tourism industry has launched a tourist route with the theme "South Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Road", opening a community tourism destination in Mien village, Ba Vi district.

Hanoi Department of Tourism also promotes cooperation with provinces and cities to develop tourism routes and products linked to each group of strong products, with complementary characteristics such as: Hanoi - Ha Nam - Ninh Binh cultural and spiritual tourism route; Hanoi - Son La, Hanoi - Lao Cai - Lai Chau discovery and experience tourism routes... Currently, the accommodation system in Hanoi is sufficient to meet the increasing demand of tourists. The whole city has 4,760 accommodation establishments with 71,246 rooms; of which 607 hotels and apartment buildings have been ranked from 1 to 5 stars, with a total of 26,641 rooms.

Tourists experience and visit Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh).

What to do when travel trends have changed?

Observing tourism trends in recent times, it can be seen that tourists have changed when choosing tourism products. Many tourists want destinations not only to take souvenir photos, stop by or simply relax, but also to have experiences about life, history, culture, cuisine, etc.

Among them are popular travel trends such as "escape" from the heat, "healing", exploring cuisine, and integrating many experiences in one vacation.

Typically, Khanh Hoa province has recently had many programs to attract tourists through cuisine.

According to Mr. Pham Minh Nhut - Permanent Vice President of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association: Currently, up to 81% of international tourists have a need to learn about local cuisine. They are willing to spend an average of 25-35% of their income on expenses related to food and drinks during their travel.

And Khanh Hoa province has initially succeeded in building tourism products associated with local culinary activities to attract tourists. Therefore, festivals and organized tourism activities have attracted a large number of domestic and international tourists to the locality.

According to Mr. Nhut, cuisine is no longer just a factor serving the simple eating and drinking needs of tourists, but has gradually become one of the main purposes of tourism, strongly influencing the decision to choose a destination and stimulating tourists' spending ability.

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thanh - Director of Khanh Hoa Province Department of Tourism said that in recent years, promoting the value of local cuisine in tourism activities has been paid more attention by tourism businesses. Some local dishes such as fish noodles, banh canh, banh xeo... have also been served in luxury hotels and resorts.

Ms. Tong Ngoc Anh Hong - representative of XO Tour Company (HCMC) said: Grasping the needs of tourists, businesses focus on integrating experiences of discovery, learning about typical cultures, urban life with many perspectives such as from culinary culture, people's living habits or trading activities in traditional markets...

The company continues to exploit and serve tourists on motorbike tours to visit Ho Chi Minh City. The special feature of this type of tour is that it is very flexible, each tour only has 6 - 18 tourists. Joining the tour, tourists are transported on motorbikes by drivers who are also professional tour guides, telling stories related to the history and culture of the destination; visiting famous culinary addresses, enjoying specialties associated with the southern city. The activity brings tourists, especially young tourists, many new and interesting experiences.

Travelers do not like night flights

Catching the tourism trend, many airlines are increasing the frequency of night flights. However, this solution is not chosen by tourists because it affects their health, and it is difficult to choose night services at the destination...

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Man - Director of Communications and Marketing of TSTtourist Company, flying after 9pm is usually suitable for individuals to go home or visit relatives, but it is very difficult for traveling. If passengers fly after 10pm, in case the flight is delayed, when they land at the tourist destination, it will be 1-2am.

This time frame is not convenient if the airport is far from the hotel, and you have to use the hotel's services at night. "Although you save some money on airfare, it will incur additional costs. Not to mention, summer tourists often travel with their families, including children, so arranging a departure at night is taboo because it is contrary to the children's daily routine. Businesses also cannot organize tours that take guests to their destination and then... go to sleep," Mr. Man further explained.

Similarly, Mr. Tran Thanh Vu - Director of Vinagroup International Travel Company also said that the cost of domestic night flights is not cheap because there are many other costs such as: spending an extra night at a hotel, travel expenses, breakfast... causing the schedule to be extended.

It can be said that the solution of night flights is an effort of the aviation industry but in reality it has not been well received because it leads to many other problems in the tours of travel businesses. Therefore, to solve the difficulties, both tourism and aviation need to sit down to discuss more suitable solutions to ensure the interests of customers going on tours.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/mua-du-lich-he-thay-doi-khi-xu-huong-du-lich-da-doi-thay-post385937.html