Affordable tourism combos needed to lure foreign travelers

General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh says that after Vietnam fully reopened the tourism market on March 15, the industry gradually recovered, especially domestic tourism, with 101.3 million tourists in 2022.

However, the number of foreign travelers to Vietnam was still modest, just 3.5 million, or 70% of the yearly plan.

Khanh said tourism reopening was not the high international tourism season (the high season lasts from October to March). Meanwhile, policies on pandemic prevention and control and tourism reopening differed by country. 

After the pandemic, Vietnam’s tourism had to compete fiercely with other markets, especially to attract foreign travelers.

Khanh thinks that Vietnam needs new policies related to entry and visa procedures, transport-aviation and road connections, and tourism promotion.

Bui Minh Dang from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said to date more than 63 foreign airlines and four Vietnamese airlines are providing flights on 154 international air routes, connecting 26 countries and territories.

Vietnam has recovered almost all international air routes compared with the pre-pandemic period (2019), except Russia, which is frozen, and China, with restrictions in flight frequency (16 flights a week for each side).

Dang said CAAV will continue discussing and working with Chinese and Indian aviation administrators to create favorable legal conditions for Vietnamese airlines’ activities in these countries. In the immediate time, they will consider raising the flight frequency for airlines on air routes between the countries.

In addition, cooperation with VNAT is needed to develop source markets, aviation-tourism cooperation, and advertising.

According to Khanh, travel firms estimate that airfare accounts for one-third of tour expenses, so aviation and tourism should cooperate to diversify products and design tours with reasonable prices. These should be tourism combos with reasonable quality and affordable prices.

He suggested that aviation and tourism renew major tourism product lines, including sea and island tourism, cultural tourism (cuisine and heritage), ecotourism (community tourism) and urban tourism (MICE - Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions). 

In addition, leisure tourism and medical tourism should also receive appropriate investments to satisfy the new demands in the market.