The recovery of Vietnam travel business through ITB Asia 2023

ITB Asia - Asia’s Leading Tourism Fair

Recently, the Asia International Travel Trade Fair (ITB Asia 2023) was successfully held in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Asia's biggest travel trade show brings together key participants in the global travel industry. 

With over 1,800 foreign exhibitors, a 35% rise in new exhibitors, a 38% increase in MICE, and a more than 200% increase in travel technology, the show exceeded expectations. 

ITB Asia 2023 was off to an outstanding start, with over 1,300 global top-tier buyers and over a hundred conference speakers in attendance.

The trade fair also showed the strong rebound of Vietnam after COVID-19, with the active involvement of many booths from provinces, cities, and leading travel businesses.

Attending the ITB Asia 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism coordinated with the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore to organize a booth to promote Vietnamese tourism and regional tourism businesses, creating opportunities for exchanging, meeting, and promoting trade connections.

Also attending the booth to introduce and promote Vietnamese tourism at ITB Asia this year were Binh Phuoc province, Da Nang City, and leading Vietnamese aviation and travel businesses such as Vietnam Airlines, Vinpearl, Viettravel, BestPrice Travel, Travasia DMC, Saigon Tourist, Ben Thanh Tourist, TST Tourist, SacoTravel, Lua Viet Tours, among others.

Calling at the Vietnam Tourism booth, visitors were given the chance to meet tourism management agencies, airlines, travel businesses, and hoteliers. They also learn about tourism products designed specifically for the Singapore market, such as resort and health care tourism, cultural-historical tourism, golf tourism, MICE tourism, and ecotourism, along with regionally linked products.

At the fair, Vietnam also designed a display stand to promote tourist items such as USBs, wooden cards, cloth bags, conical hats, travel guides, and Vietnamese coffee. The guests also experienced traditional handicraft activities, including making toy figurines and folding coconut leaves. 

Le Truong Hien Hoa, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that Vietnam continues to promote the Southeast Asian market, with Singapore serving as one of the biggest tourism markets that holds great potential to boost the number of visitors to Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

Recovery of Vietnam travel business from an expert perspective

Poh Chi Chuan, Executive Director of Exhibitions and Conferences at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), highly evaluated Vietnam's participation in the ITB Asia 2023, saying after the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam was one of the leading tourist destinations, achieving high growth in the region. 

He also noted that the tourism industry in Asia has gradually gathered steam in the post-pandemic period. “We applaud Vietnam's involvement in ITB Asia, as it has been demonstrated to support the expansion and revival of the tourism industry in the region", he said.

As a member of the ITB trade fair, Hien Kim, director of Sales and Marketing at BestPrice Travel, was optimistic about the prospects of the international tourist market in Vietnam. 

“The post-pandemic recovery of international tourism has shown some positive signs, after evaluating BestPrice Travel business at the peak of the inbound season”, commented the executive.

“The company’s revenue has almost reached the pre-pandemic levels, with the current number of bookings doubling that of 2022, and we do hope the figure will likely be 2.5 - 3 times higher than 2022 by the end of the year,” said Hien.

Creating travel programs tailored to certain markets is a challenge to all businesses hoping to draw travelers to Vietnam. Focused on American tourists, who tend to travel for 1 - 2 weeks, Hien Kim noted that the most attractive itineraries included those traversing Indochina countries, such as Vietnam - Cambodia and Vietnam - Cambodia - Thailand.

“BestPrice Travel and BestPrice.vn also built more short-term tours to focus on the travel needs of both inbound and outbound tourists, with short vacations lasting 4 - 5 days on average for the Asia market”, she added.

For Asian tourists, Da Nang is the most chosen destination, following Phu Quoc, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi. Indian tourists, who cover the large markets in Vietnam, prefer Da Nang and Phu Quoc because these places are quite famous in the media. They also come to Phu Quoc as a venue for the luxury weddings of some upper-class families. Meanwhile, the Golden Bridge in Da Nang is a reason why tourists want to visit this city. 

The ITB Asia Expo is the key to opening new opportunities for Vietnam to expand the market and reach its target customers. Vietnam's inbound travel agents would devise unique ways to entice travelers, such as offering exclusive deals or better travel options.