Since Vietnam fully reopened its borders to tourists on March 15, the country’s hospitality sector has bounced back strongly with a significant increase in the number of visitors arriving in localities nationwide, signalling a positive revival for the sector after severe losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A delegation of 126 US tourists warmly welcomed while visiting the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History on April 8 (Photo: Ho Chi Minh municipal Tourism Department)
Localities bustling with visitors
According to statistics of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, during the three-day holiday to commemorate the death anniversary of the Hung Kings from April 9 to 11, the whole country served about 3 million domestic tourists.
Specifically, during the holiday, the capital city of Hanoi welcomed about 200,000 holidaymakers and the total revenue from tourism was estimated at 560 billion VND.
Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City greeted approximately 250,000 vacationers and brought in about 1.1 trillion VND from tourism. Phu Tho province and Da Nang city received over 550,000 and 77,870 visitors, respectively.
Following the three-day holiday, localities are making preparations for the increasing travel demand during the summer season, particularly the upcoming four-day holiday from April 30 to May 3 on the occasion of the National Reunification Day and May Day holiday.
Accordingly, localities and travel businesses have introduced new programmes and products to catch up with post-pandemic tourism trends such as green tourism, community-based tourism, cultural tourism, and medical tourism.
Prominent among the products and services are sightseeing tours on a double-decker bus, river bus or helicopter in Ho Chi Minh City, and tours to discover Hanoi by bicycle.
Survey data on searches and bookings from April 15 to May 15 from US-based online booking travel agency Booking.com revealed that a majority of Vietnamese tourists prefer beaches and mountain resorts for their summer getaway.
Da Nang topped the list of most popular domestic destinations as selected by Vietnamese tourists, followed by Da Lat, Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc.
In the context of the relaxation of travel restrictions among countries, the gradually reopening of world tourism, along with Vietnam's resumption of international flights, the summer of 2022 is marking the return of outbound tourism. Statistics showed that Japan, the US, France, Thailand and Singapore are the top international destinations booked by Vietnamese tourists for their upcoming trips.
Vietnamese tourists visit Dubai. (Photo: Saigontourist)
Thanks to the favourable opening policy, tourist attractions in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, and Bali (Indonesia) have also won much interest from the Vietnamese people. In addition, travel agencies continue to launch many attractive tour packages to Dubai (UAE), Maldives, Turkey, Europe, and Australia.
The return of foreign arrivals
Vietnam's efforts to reopen international visitors and relax entry procedures for foreign nationals have helped to lure international tourists back to Vietnam.
Data from Booking.com showed that the countries with the highest number of tourists to Vietnam from April 15 to May 15, 2022, included Singapore, the US, Australia, the UK and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, analytical data from Google Destination Insights revealed that the destinations in Vietnam that draw the most interest from foreigners are Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Da Nang, Hoi An, Da Lat, Quy Nhon, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Visitors from such countries as the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, India, the UK and Canada have searched the most for tourism information about Vietnam.
The General Statistics Office reported in the first quarter of this year, the number of foreign tourists to the country reached nearly 91,000, a year-on-year rise of over 89 per cent as Vietnam has fully reopened and many international flights have been restored.
In March alone, the number of international arrivals to Vietnam reached 15,000, increased by 41.4 per cent over the previous month and 2.2 times against the same period last year.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused numerous difficulties in human resources and tourism facilities, Vietnam’s hospitality industry has made tremendous efforts to adapt to the situation and seize opportunities to recover and bounce back stronger.
In the coming time, Vietnam will host many important events, including the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), which is a good opportunity to promote the country as a safe destination for international tourists.