Tourism recovery on right track

In 2019, Vietnam served 18 million international tourists and 85 million local holidaymakers, raking in revenue of VND755 trillion and accounting for 9.2% of Vietnamese GDP. The widespread breakout of the COVID-19 disease subsequently took a heavy toll on all economic industries, including tourism. 

With the disease being gradually brought under control, Vietnam moved to open its door to international tourism markets in mid-March 2022, creating all the conditions possible for the tourism industry’s post-pandemic recovery. By the end of the year, localities received nearly 3.7 million international arrivals and 101.3 million domestic travelers.

Most notably, 2023 witnessed the international tourism market enjoy strong growth thanks to a new visa policy introduced in mid-August. The country welcomed nearly 12.6 million foreign travelers, nearly 3.5 times more compared to 2022. The level of recovery reached 70% compared to 2019, and was 15% more than the general recovery level recorded elsewhere in Asia.

This year the local tourism industry aims to welcome up to 18 million international travelers and 110 million domestic visitors to earn total revenue of VND840 trillion. This is a high and ambitious goal for the industry that is likely to be achieved through relevant efforts and solutions put in place by stakeholders.

Statistics show Vietnam received more than 8.8 million foreign arrivals in the first six months of the year, up 58.4% over the same period last year and 4.1% higher than the same period from 2019. During a recent regular Government meeting, the tourism industry was singled out as one of 11 economic industries to record the best performance in the first half of the year.

By maintaining the upward trajectory and with the peak international tourism season coming in the last months of the year, the industry remains optimistic that it will achieve the set goal of welcoming 17 million to 18 million international tourists this year.

The Vietnamese tourism industry has received many regional and global reputable awards, such as the World’s Leading Heritage Destination four times, the World’s Best Golf Destination twice; Asia’s Best Golf Destination six times; and Asia’s Leading Destination five times. This is along with many other prestigious titles such as Asia’s Leading Sustainable Tourism Destination, Asia’s Leading Cultural Destination, Asia’s Best Culinary Destination, Asia’s Leading Heritage Destination, and Asia’s Leading Regional Nature Destination.

Tourism promotion to be enhanced

Increasing post-pandemic tourism promotion is viewed as one of the viable solutions which the tourism industry has introduced in a bid to keep its recovery on track.

The industry has proactively participated in major travel fairs around the world, organised programmes to introduce Vietnamese tourism abroad, promoted tourism at Vietnamese Cultural Days and Weeks abroad, and deployed international cooperation activities in bilateral and multilateral mechanisms.

In the first half of the year alone, the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) launched a tourism promotion scheme at the 2024 International Travel Exchange expo (TRAVEX) in Laos, and hosted a Vietnam – Australia tourism promotion conference to realise the two countries’ commitments following the recent upgrade of their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

It also deployed tourism promotion activities in other key tourism markets by arranging the Vietnam - Korea tourism promotion and cultural cooperation forum in Seoul, as well as introducing the country’s tourism development potential during Vietnam Cultural Days in Moscow and St. Petersburg. 

Most recently, the VNAT hosted tourism promotion programmes in France, Germany, and Italy, with the participation of many guests and international businesses which highly appreciated the country’s open visa policy, convenient flights, attractive products, and friendly, hospitable people.

Locally, the VNAT in April launched a scheme aimed at stimulating domestic tourism with the theme of “Vietnamese people travel in Vietnam - Vietnam I love”. In addition, it strengthened State management agencies, dispatched inspections teams to destinations, and signed collaboration documents with the agricultural and railway industries to create new products.

With its remarkable gains and international acclaims recorded, the tourism industry is making every effort to meet the set goal for the year whilst striving to make a breakthrough in its development moving forward.