After 9 months of growth, Vietnamese tourism could "reach the milestone" of welcoming 17 million tourists.
VietnamPlus•10/10/2024
Despite being affected by a number of risk factors, Vietnamese tourism industry experts still believe that the entire industry is likely to reach the milestone of welcoming 17 million international visitors after the peak season at the end of this year. Experts say that Vietnamese tourism could "reach the milestone" of welcoming 17 million international visitors in 2024. (Photo: VNA)
With the number of international visitors being assessed by experts as having grown positively in the past 9 months, most markets have fully recovered, with some markets even increasing sharply compared to the same period in 2019. With the result of welcoming 12.7 million visitors in the first 9 months, will the entire tourism industry achieve the goal of "finishing" with 17-18 million international tourists in 2024?
What can the tourism industry "reach"?
According to experts, the positive signals of Vietnam's smokeless industry are being achieved because recently, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have implemented a series of programs to promote Vietnam's tourism in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Korea, etc. Notably, the first tourism-cinema promotion program held in the US has created a certain resonance. Along with the momentum from the open visa policy, in the remaining months of 2024, Vietnam is expected to welcome a breakthrough growth in the number of international visitors, and the tourism industry will complete the target of welcoming 17-18 million international visitors this year. However, figures from the General Statistics Office show that in the first 9 months of 2024, Vietnam welcomed more than 12.7 million visitors. To achieve the annual target of welcoming 18 million international visitors, the number must reach nearly 5.3 million in the last 3 months of the year, an average of more than 1.76 million visitors/month. International tourists prefer experiences associated with local culture. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+) Analyzing the opportunity for the tourism industry to reach the target of 18 million international visitors this year, Director of the Department of Trade and Services Statistics (General Statistics Office), Dinh Thi Thuy Phuong said: “This is a very difficult task. Because in 2019, Vietnam welcomed more than 18 million international visitors, of which the fourth quarter of 2019 reached more than 5.1 million visitors, an average of more than 1.71 million visitors/month. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve the target of welcoming 18 million visitors in 2024.” With the target of welcoming 17 million visitors in 2024, the tourism industry needs to welcome an average of 1.41 million visitors/month so that the last 3 months of the year must reach nearly 4.3 million visitors. “Because the fourth quarter of each year is the peak season for international tourists, the goal of welcoming 17 million international visitors to Vietnam in 2024 can be achieved, provided that the world and domestic situation does not have any unfavorable changes. At the same time, the whole industry needs to propose a number of solutions to be implemented synchronously, flexibly and effectively,” said Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy Phuong.
Acceleration solutions for the last 3 months of the year
According to Ms. Thuy Phuong, there are 3 groups of solutions that need to be implemented to attract international visitors to Vietnam in the last 3 months of the year. First, continue to improve visa policies, especially expanding the list of unilateral visa exemptions; build a coordination mechanism between the transportation sectors (aviation, railways, etc.), accommodation services, food and beverage, travel and tourism, retail goods, etc. Second, step up tourism promotion and advertising, seek new tourist markets instead of focusing on a few traditional markets. Apply information technology, artificial intelligence and digital transformation in parallel with attracting visitors, focus on diversifying and improving the quality of tourism products and tours, especially tourism products based on exploiting traditional cultural values; encourage international tourists to spend, extend their stay to increase tourism revenue. International tourists on top of Hang Mua, Ninh Binh. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+) Third is to develop sustainable tourism, by linking tourism activities with environmental protection, natural landscape protection, and preservation of traditional cultural values. However, industry leaders also warn of risk factors, although tourism activities have changed positively, they are still not commensurate with their potential, and have not really met expectations. Therefore, it is necessary to exploit tourism products systematically and effectively to create a boost for economic growth. Moreover, tourism businesses are still facing three major problems regarding the market, capital, and law; some regulations, administrative procedures, standards, technical regulations, and business conditions are still cumbersome and have not been thoroughly cut.
Through strong promotional activities, the tourism industry wants to spread the image of Vietnam as an attractive, safe, and friendly destination with exciting experiences for tourists to enjoy.
In particular, businesses must meet new standards, green standards, sustainable development, environmental - social - governance (ESG) standards, etc. Therefore, it requires large investment resources, while the time for conversion is not much (many countries plan to apply from 2026). Despite being affected by such risk factors, Vietnamese tourism industry experts still believe that the whole industry is likely to reach the milestone of 17 million international visitors after the peak season at the end of this year. International tourists vacation in Ha Giang. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+)
International arrivals to Vietnam in September 2024 are estimated to reach nearly 1.3 million, an increase of 20.9% over the same period in 2023; in the third quarter of 2024, it is estimated to reach nearly 3.8 million, an increase of 17% over the same period last year. In the first 9 months of this year, the number of international arrivals is estimated to reach more than 12.7 million, an increase of 43% over the same period in 2023. Increased tourism demand during peak seasons along with the recovery of industrial production and import-export activities has positively spread to market service industries, contributing to increased revenue for accommodation, food, transportation, entertainment, etc.
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