Self-sufficient travel accounted for more than 80% of Vietnamese tourist travel in the first 6 months of 2023, with a slight increase in the second quarter. This trend shows that self-sufficient travel remains popular among Vietnamese tourists, and the market has the potential to grow further with the development of tourism communication platforms and other IT applications.
Solo travel, which accounted for more than 20% of travel in the first half of the year, is showing strong growth potential, with a ratio of one and a half times higher in the second quarter than in the first quarter. This is likely due to the increasing busyness of modern life, which makes group travel more difficult to coordinate.
Self-sufficient travel with family and friends still accounted for the majority of travel, with more than 60%, but this proportion decreased from the first quarter to the second quarter due to the growing popularity of solo travel.
Tour guests still prefer Vietravel and Saigontourist, the two most popular tour operators. Dat Viet Tour has shown an increase in ranking, jumping from 7th to 4th place in the second quarter.
The three main reasons for Vietnamese travelers choosing to book tours in both quarters are:
- Tours help them manage trip costs better.
- Tourists feel convenient when having a tour to take care all
- The cost of a package tour is cheaper than if the traveler books all the services themselves.
The rankings of these factors did not change in both quarters, suggesting that tours will remain more attractive than self-sufficient travel for tourists who do not have much experience in travel planning.
Online travel agencies (OTAs) are also popular among self-sufficient travelers, with Traveloka, Booking.com, and Agoda being the top three choices in the first 6 months of 2023. The proportion of tourists choosing OTAs in the second quarter increased compared to the first quarter.
Overall, the most important factor for Vietnamese tourists when choosing a service provider is trust, with transparent and clear information about products and services being essential. Price is also important, but the proportion of tourists choosing a reliable supplier decreased compared to the first quarter.
