Vietnam tourism has recorded many achievements regarding revenue and tourist arrivals since the beginning of 2023. During the first three days of the Lunar New Year, travel agencies continuously updated images of delegations departing in early spring.

Travel companies and tourist destinations earned high revenue

Nguyen Minh Man, Director of Communication, Marketing and Information Technology of TST Tourist Company, said that TST Tourists welcomed about 1,000 individual and family visitors. Saigontourist Service – Travel Company also served more than 21,000 visitors.

Besides, the number of visitors to tourist destinations also increased. Particularly, Ho Chi Minh City led the list with revenue of about VND 6,300 billion in the first five days of the Lunar New Year. Hanoi was estimated to welcome 32,000 international visitors in just 6 days of the holiday, bringing in more than VND 1,000 billion in revenue from tourism. Khanh Hoa also achieved outstanding achievements when receiving 15 flights carrying Chinese tourists, with 180 to 220 guests each. The total number of international visitors staying here during the 6 days of Tet reached 11,300.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau also welcomed about 10,688 international guests staying during Tet. In addition, the tourism revenue of Tay Ninh province reached VND 293.3 billion, up 88.6% over the same period in 2022.

It is estimated that about 9 million domestic tourists are traveling to spring in the country during the 6 days of the Tet holiday, up 47.5% over the same period last year. The number of international guests booking accommodations also reached 30-40% of the total bookings during the Lunar New Year.

The domestic market will still be the bright spot of Vietnam tourism

Nguyen Trung Khanh, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, hopes the Vietnam tourism market will be dynamic in 2023.

According to many experts, global tourism will grow strongly in 2023. Therefore, we can believe that Vietnam tourism will boom this year, especially in the context that many countries open their borders and tourism.

Besides, Nguyen Huu Y Yen, General Director of Saigontourist Travel, said that the domestic market is still a bright spot to help Vietnam tourism to strongly recover this year. Before the pandemic, China, Russia, and South Korea were the three largest markets contributing to the number of international visitors to Vietnam. However, only the Korean market has now begun to prosper, but there are not many Chinese tourists and no Russians.

During the meeting with the Vietnamese tourism delegation, Shri Gyan Bhushan, Senior Economic Advisor – Ministry of Tourism of India, said that language and cuisine are barriers preventing Indian visitors to Vietnam.

According to Pham Van Thuy, Deputy Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Vietnam, and India have had a close and comprehensive cooperation relationship for many years, especially in tourism.

Shri Gyan Bhushan said that Vietnam has many cultural and religious similarities with India. Therefore, Vietnam has also become a popular destination for Indian tourists. Besides, many Vietnamese tourists also choose India as a destination for spiritual, Buddhist, medical, and sightseeing.

However, the number of tourists between the two countries is still limited in recent years and is not commensurate with the tourism potential of the two countries. One of the limitations of tourism development mentioned is language and cuisine.

“To attract and meet the needs of Vietnamese tourists to India soon, the Indian Ministry of Tourism proposed to promote human resource training activities in tourism. We open many courses for teaching Vietnamese, promoting culinary exchanges, sending Indian chefs to Vietnam to study Vietnamese cuisine, and opening Vietnamese restaurants in India,” added Shri Gyan Bhushan.

Pham Van Thuy also approved the above proposal. Meanwhile, he also suggested that India continues to simplify entry visa procedures for Vietnamese citizens, and encourage airlines to continue to expand their network of routes connecting cities of India and Vietnam.

The two nations committed to supporting each other by organizing market launch programs; encouraging enterprises to participate in international tourism fairs organized by each party; encouraging localities of the two countries to cooperate; and boosting tourism in the upcoming time.