According to Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet, the tourism industry can now rest assured with the targets and tasks set for 2023. By the end of September, the number of international visitors to Vietnam is estimated at 8.8 million (exceeding the target set for the whole year of 8 million), domestic tourism reached about 93 million.
According to Mr. Viet, this result is due to the positive changes in tourism trends in the world and most importantly, thanks to our new, very open and transparent policies. In particular, removing bottlenecks in entry and exit for international visitors has created a positive push.
" According to calculations, in the remaining months of 2023, we can welcome at least 1.1 to 1.2 million international visitors each month, especially in December, during Christmas and New Year. We will report to the Minister, on that basis report to the Government to change the target of welcoming international visitors from 8 million to 12.5 - 13 million visitors for the whole year of 2023, an increase of about 156% compared to the original plan ," said Mr. Viet.
The tourism industry has raised its target of welcoming 13 million international visitors in 2023. (Illustration photo: Cong Hieu)
Commenting on this "big play" plan, many travel businesses expressed optimism and affirmed that Vietnam's tourism industry will "sprint" successfully.
Mr. Pham Duy Nghia, CEO of Vietfoot Travel, believes that this is a feasible goal, completely achievable when the peak season for international visitors has just begun.
“From October to April next year is the time when foreign visitors to Vietnam are the most crowded because they really like autumn and spring in Vietnam. Therefore, from now until the end of the year and into the beginning of next year, the number of international visitors will continue to grow. In the last three months of the year, I expect the tourism industry to welcome about 4 million more visitors, in time to complete the new target before the end of 2023,” Mr. Nghia commented.
Citing the strong increase in international visitors at the end of the year, Mr. Nghia said that Vietfoot Travel currently has groups of visitors registered to go to Vietnam from the end of October and scattered throughout the remaining two months.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Tran The Dung, General Director of Vietluxtour Travel Company, also said: “The fourth quarter of each year is the peak season for welcoming inbound visitors (visitors to Vietnam), combined with the good recovery of tourism trends in the world, the number of 13 million international visitors is completely feasible and appropriate. Currently, Vietluxtour has many tours in the last three months of the year serving international visitors. We predict that in the coming days, the number of visitors will continue to increase.”
The market has not fully recovered yet.
Commenting on the reasons that helped Vietnam's tourism industry soon surpass its target of welcoming international visitors, economic expert, Dr. Nguyen Bich Lam, former General Director of the General Statistics Office, said that recently, with the Government's open policy and the more flexible visa easing, international tourists have been attracted to Vietnam.
“We hope that in the fourth quarter, with open policies and more favorable weather than other countries, Vietnam will still attract international visitors. Tourism will be a bright spot and a driving force for economic growth. To raise the target of welcoming international visitors to 13 million, when 9 months reached 8.8 million, an average of 1.3 million international visitors per month will be needed. We set a target to strive for when we have such a foundation, which is very good, but in reality, the number of tourists achieved is only about 69% compared to 2019 - the time before the COVID-19 pandemic" , expert Nguyen Bich Lam warned.
Therefore, according to Mr. Lam, more policies and measures are still needed to remove the shortcomings. " The story about visas is only a necessary condition, not a sufficient condition. International visitors to Vietnam will often look at whether the tourism environment is favorable, whether there are any attractions or what are the unique cultural values? If visitors come to Vietnam for tourism but the time of stay is short, there are not many services to spend on or in many cases social security is not really good, then visitors will not come back after one visit," Mr. Lam analyzed.
The number of international visitors to Vietnam is currently only about 69% compared to 2019. (Illustration photo: International Newspaper)
Previously, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration Ha Van Sieu also stated that tourism activities have not yet fully recovered, even in major tourist centers, due to many different reasons. Among them, objective reasons include the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the fact that Chinese tourists have not traveled abroad much, or subjective reasons such as the limited tourism promotion and advertising from the central to local levels.
In addition, after COVID-19, tourists have changed their travel trends, aggregate demand has weakened, spending is low and activities are low. Therefore, the number of tourists may have increased but activities have not fully recovered.
The Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration said that in the last 3 months of the year, the tourism industry will focus on solutions to attract international visitors. The National Tourism Administration will advise on organizing a conference to meet and dialogue with tourism businesses to remove difficulties, obstacles and obstacles in promoting and attracting international visitors to Vietnam. Especially in major tourist centers such as Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Ha Long, etc.
In early 2023, Thailand also increased its target of welcoming international visitors from 10 million to 30 million when favorable conditions appeared. Indonesia also made similar adjustments when it realized that the forecast data at the beginning of the year was no longer suitable for the actual situation.
Thanh Lam
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