Vietnamese tourists consider the availability of information about the safety of the destination as one of the major factors influencing their choice of a destination. This is one of the new travel sensitivities due to the impact of the pandemic, mentioned in Outbox Insight’s newly released report “How Vietnamese travelers are reconnecting with outbound travel”.

2022 – The rebirth of Vietnam outbound travel  

With high mass vaccination rates around the world, many countries have re-opened their borders, eased travel restrictions to welcome more international guests since 2022. Positive news in the media has ignited the pent-up demand of Vietnamese people for an outbound trip. 

When the number of confirmed cases are shrinking down and international flights have been restarted, Vietnamese’s confidence about outbound travel has increased. According to “How Vietnamese Travelers Are Re-connecting With Outbound Travel 2022” report, the Vietnamese outbound travelers are less concerned about risks from 10/2021 till 5/2022.

Along with the decreasing concern level, the number of Vietnamese tourists traveling abroad increased significantly. 88.5% of Vietnamese outbound tourists have taken both domestic and international trips in the first nine months of 2022. This is one of the vital signals that Vietnam outbound tourism has recovered quite surprisingly.

Prior to COVID-19, there were many factors influencing Vietnamese’s choice of an overseas destination, but they used to consider the cost of the trip, travel-friendly & cost-effective packages of the destination. However, in this “new normal” world, the report found that availability of safety information has emerged as one of the key factors when they choose an international travel destination.

Information about travel safety has played a key role in post-pandemic world

The pandemic has impacted the tourists and how the tourism industry works. No matter what reasons for leisure outbound trips or business ones in the “new normalcy” are, and despite the decreasing concern level, 44.6% of survey takers stated that the availability of safety information about the destination is one of the key factors influencing their choice of a destination. 

Safety has become a new sensitivity in the tourism & hospitality industry post COVID-19 due to changing and uncertain travel restrictions. When the pandemic broke out, many tourists were stuck in another country for a long time, which affected their life and business. 

Though the borders are now re-opened, travelers seek information regarding the safety of the destination, vaccination requirements and immigration regulations before traveling to another country. That is true to Vietnamese travelers’ behaviors post COVID-19, as they tend to organize a trip with their family members or friends. This Vietnam Outbound Report 2022 shows that only 5% took a solo trip. Therefore, the more available information about the safety of the destination, the easier it is to influence the choice of foreign destinations of Vietnamese people.

Beside the safety information, Vietnamese outbound travelers are also concerned about the cost of the trip (49.6%), and if the destination’s characteristics can match their personal preferences (41.8%).

All information about the level of concern, travel preferences and travel trends about Vietnamese tourists going abroad after COVID-19 can be found at the report Vietnam Outbound Travel 2022.

The Outbox Company

As Vietnam’s travel sector continues to evolve and as prospects of international travel become increasingly feasible with vaccination rollouts, travel and tourism players have to adapt to survive. This article gives the highlights about Vietnam’s Outbound Market based on the Vietnam Outbound Travel 2022 Report for the country’s travel and tourism companies to help you prepare sales & marketing plans and achieve goals.

After the pandemic is controlled, the number of Vietnamese traveling outbound has dramatically increased. As travel confidence and readiness are gradually restored, Vietnamese have started putting overseas destinations on their travel plan for Summer 2023. Travel companies should therefore rise to the occasion and capture value from this opportunity.

The post-COVID-19 Vietnamese tourists strongly prefer in-region destinations, with 54% of respondents saying they took a trip to Singapore and 49% chose Thailand as their ‘comeback’ destination. In comparison, another destination from the North East Asia region that is among the top Vietnamese outbound travelers is South Korea, with 51% of respondents in the survey traveling in the first nine months of 2022.

TOP 5 Asian destinations traditionally were the most popular destinations of Vietnamese travelers due to numerous favorable considerations, such as more straightforward visa procedures, more affordable prices, and convenient transportation. However, with the growth of income, the TOP 5 destinations of Vietnamese travelers gradually expanded from South East Asia to the broader region and the world.

Due to their proximity, Singapore and Thailand are primarily at the top of the mind of Vietnamese travelers when considering short vacations outside the country. Moreover, the cost of traveling to those destinations is also a vital factor contributing to their popularity among the Vietnamese outbound traveler community. In 2019 alone, Thailand received more than 1 million Vietnamese arrivals, while Singapore was a chosen destination of 0,59 million arrivals from Vietnam, followed by South Korea with 0,52 million Vietnamese arrivals. The three destinations continue to be the destinations of choice for many Vietnamese travelers.

As COVID-19 has brought new sensitivities, it has also changed the travel references of Vietnamese tourists. We asked respondents what the three most significant factors influence their choice of destination. Nearly half (49,6%) of all respondents considered the cost of the trip to be among the top priority aspects, followed by the availability of information about the safety of the destination (44,6%) and the characteristics of the destination that match personal preferences (41,8%).

Tracking changes in travel regulations and efforts to restart international travel activities of destinations worldwide, it can be seen that in addition to developing measures to ensure the safety of visitors, destinations also offer promotions and attractive incentive programs to attract international tourists. This makes the outbound trip cost significantly reduced. Therefore, cost-effectiveness could not be a comparative advantage of travel packages offered by travel agents during this critical period.

Despite shifting the types of trips from group tours to self-planned trips, Vietnamese outbound travelers will present a strong bond with family in their travel preference.

54% of travelers reported that they took an outbound trip with their family members. This figure is similar to what was discovered before the pandemic, in which 42% of Vietnamese people in Gen Y travel with a family member. More than half of Gen X travel with family members (56%), while only 27% of Gen Z, when asked about travel companions, said to travel with family members.

The uncertain and fast-changing travel restrictions have also resulted in a shift in travelers’ planning and booking habits. Vietnamese outbound travelers are less willing to book travel months in advance and are increasingly seeking flexible bookings.

Travel players in Vietnam can seek to accelerate the industry’s recovery by capturing emerging growth opportunities in outbound tourism as they gradually rebuild Vietnamese travelers’ confidence. Developing outbound tourism is important for tourism businesses as well as meeting increasing demand. Our Vietnam Outbound Insight Report should set the stakeholders in Vietnam’s travel industry in the right direction and help them thrive in the tourism economy of the future.

The Outbox Company