Golden opportunity for Vietnam to exploit the fertile land of "shopping tourism"

Mr. Nam’s description of Chinese tourists’ spending power is not an exaggeration, because this market is world- famous for its extravagance when traveling abroad. However, for nearly 20 years, China has always been in the top of the markets with the lowest spending in Vietnam. In the context of a market of more than a billion people is bustling again, competitors are tightening the competition, so the problem of tourists spending less in Vietnam must be solved quickly.

Korean tourists shopping at Han market ( Da Nang)

Ngoc Han

After a 4-year absence since the Covid-19 outbreak, China has officially regained the No. 1 position in the list of markets sending the most visitors to Vietnam in May with 357,000 visitors. In the past 5 months, there have been nearly 1.6 million Chinese visitors to Vietnam, accounting for 21.2% of the total number of foreign visitors to our country. The Chinese market is closely following South Korea, the largest market sending visitors to Vietnam for many years with over 1.9 million visitors (accounting for 25.7%). The return of Chinese visitors not only immediately "breathes life" into many destinations that have long been waiting for this loyal customer stream such as Nha Trang, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Phu Quoc... but also brings great expectations to improve the revenue of the entire tourism industry. According to surveys from prestigious organizations around the world, Chinese tourists' overseas travel spending in 2024 could also lead the world, returning to the level of 2019. Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists accounted for 21% of global tourism spending and it was difficult for any country to replace them, according to Statista. The World Travel and Tourism Council's 2023 report shows that mainland Chinese tourists have surpassed other markets in terms of shopping spending, with an average of $1,350 per person per trip, making a significant contribution to the global tourism market. According to a survey from China Daily, the number of days spent internationally by Chinese tourists has increased from 9 days before the pandemic to 11 days after the pandemic. The average budget for overseas trips has also increased by 16%, from nearly $5,000 to $5,700 per person. Kevin Cheong, a tourism and destination development consultant, said that if tourists from other countries have to spend a lot of money on a destination, they will choose luxury places like Dubai or Europe, instead of going to Southeast Asian countries; but Chinese tourists are said to "spend a lot of money wherever they go".

Foreign tourists buy souvenirs in Ha Long Bay

Ngoc Thang

Mr. Thanh Tung, a tour guide in the Japanese market, used the word "horrifying" to describe the image of a group of Chinese tourists when they arrived at Ginza - the richest shopping area in Tokyo. "As soon as the car stopped, they spread out everywhere. The tour schedule only stopped here for 2.5 hours, but they asked to change the itinerary, spending 5 hours in this shopping area. Dior, Gucci, Balenciaga... they all bought. There was no luxury brand they missed. They went into the luxury brand area and "swept" the goods, each hand full of big and small bags. When they arrived at the Factory Outlet area near Fukushima, they also swept the area, and when they returned, everyone registered to pack a few more boxes of goods. Just looking at the boxes made me dizzy, not to mention the total amount of money spent. Japan is currently one of the most popular markets for Chinese tourists because the yen is weakening, helping them have cheap trips but still use high-end services. Nearly half a million Chinese tourists came to Japan in March, reaching 65% compared to 2019," said Mr. Tung.

However, the willingness to spend of Chinese tourists in particular and many other countries in general is inversely proportional to the ability to "pickpocket" Vietnamese tourism. According to the 2022 Statistical Yearbook, China is on the list of countries at the bottom of the average spending when visiting Vietnam. On average, a Chinese tourist to Vietnam spends only about 884.3 USD (equivalent to 22.5 million VND), while spending more than 14,000 NDT (nearly 49 million VND) in Korea, 15,000 NDT (53 million VND) in Japan and 6,000 - 7,000 USD (about 180 million VND) in the US. Not only China, the markets that contribute the largest number of visitors to us are also at the bottom of the spending rankings. Specifically, a Korean tourist to Vietnam spends 838.4 USD; Japan has an average spending per capita of 972.5 USD; Malaysia is 900.7 USD; Thailand: 846.6 USD; Cambodia: 734.9 USD; Lao visitors have the lowest average spending in the statistics with only 343.5 USD/person. "China is the world's number 1 spending market. They are known as the "golden goose" of tourist countries, not only because of the quantity but also because they love branded goods and spend without thinking. Korean, Malaysian, Thai, Japanese visitors are the same, they spend hundreds of millions of dong on branded goods, tens of millions just to buy souvenirs in popular shopping areas. But when they come to Vietnam, they spend little because there is nothing special for them to buy," said Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen, Chairman of the Inter- Pacific Group (IPPG), who is known as the "king of branded goods", regretfully.

- Ảnh 13. — Foreigners shopping at Co.opmart Cong Quynh supermarket (District 1)

Analyzing more closely the poor product system of Vietnam, Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen said: Both local and branded goods, we do not have good products. Tourists coming to Japan want to buy Japanese domestic goods, going to Thailand want to buy Thai goods, going to Korea they "rush" to shopping areas for Korean domestic goods, but almost no one comes to Vietnam to buy Vietnamese goods. At tourist attractions, night markets, and walking streets, there are only scattered miscellaneous items, mainly originating from China. Meanwhile, the "battlefield" of branded goods is almost empty when there is no policy to develop factory outlet areas, duty-free shops on the street... "Don't think that Chinese people are encouraged to go to Hainan Island to buy duty-free goods, they have free trade zones, large duty-free areas, so they don't have the need to go abroad to buy branded goods. Each market has its own characteristics. China's population is more than 1.4 billion people, but Hainan Island only attracts a few tens of millions of people to shop. Where do the rest go? They are spread all over the world and the characteristic of Chinese people is that when they travel, they have to shop. Even though they have bought in Europe, when they go to Australia, Singapore, Thailand, they see something they like and buy it again. Not to mention, Chinese culture requires gifts when they go out, so they buy souvenirs, buy gifts for relatives, friends, and family very much. Similarly, Korea is the same. Korea's duty-free shops on the street bring in a value of up to 16 billion USD each year but "only for international visitors. Korean people are also stuck with regulations and have to go abroad to buy branded goods," said Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen. "That said, we don't need to worry about a lack of customers. We have exclusive rights to 138 brands in the world, and have negotiated with suppliers to achieve selling prices equal to those in France, Singapore, and lower than in China. With geographical and price advantages, if we are given the opportunity to form factory outlet areas, duty-free shops on the street, duty-free zones, and free trade zones, Vietnam will be a magnet to attract international visitors to spend money," Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen pointed out.

Foreign tourists visit Ben Thanh market

Nhat Thinh

Dr. Luong Hoai Nam also believes that shopping tourism is a huge waste of Vietnam's tourism. A factory outlet can keep tourists for a day and the principle of tourism is that the longer the tourists stay, the more they spend. Not only branded goods, but also local souvenirs have not been invested in, domestic goods are not guaranteed to be of good quality, and there are no suitable shopping places for tourists to spend money. Singapore is a typical example of how powerful a shopping tourism industry is, not only attracting a huge number of visitors all year round but also bringing in huge revenue. "If talking about shopping tourism, Chinese tourists should still be the top target. European tourists travel lightly, do not have the habit of buying souvenirs or gifts for their families. If we push domestic shopping tourism to these groups of tourists, they actually have no need. As for Chinese tourists, they buy everything. I also cannot explain why Chinese tourists shop so terribly. When coming to Vietnam, Chinese tourists buy everything, from coffee to dried fruit... They even bring back Kymdan mattresses. Therefore, if we can organize quality shopping areas with convenient payment, not only will we earn foreign currency for the tourism industry, but Vietnamese agricultural products will also have a very good output, supporting the weak part from exports", Dr. Luong Hoai Nam said. Agreeing, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research, also said that the time when localities are determined to develop the night economy is a "golden opportunity" for Vietnam to exploit the fertile land of shopping tourism. Because a night economy model needs to fully meet 3 components: entertainment, dining and shopping. The night economy complex will include a culinary paradise; entertainment space and shopping area that can sell souvenirs, traditional Vietnamese goods or outlet areas, branded goods, duty-free goods with guaranteed quality and control. Developing shopping tourism will actively stimulate shopping and increase spending of international tourists to Vietnam. At the same time, it will promote the development of the domestic textile and fashion industry. From a shopping paradise, Vietnam can move towards a fashion center. "The strategy to stimulate tourism through shopping needs to be considered part of the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy as well as the Vietnam Goods Export Strategy to build truly encouraging policies. We need to soon have a shopping center dedicated to international tourists at the country's top tourist destinations so that the basic rights of tourists are guaranteed.