Mina Bui, a Vietnamese French woman, returned to Vietnam in April 2022 to work as the manager of a homestay, with investment from her relatives, in Ngoi Tu Village, Yen Binh District, Yen Bai Province.
Foreign visitors enjoy a folk dance at a tourist site in Khanh Hoa Province (Photo: VOV)
The homestay has now reopened following a temporarily closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure of the homestay not only caused investors to lose their money but also forced local villagers to become jobless.
However, thanks to Vietnam’s tremendous efforts to contain the pandemic and recover the economy, the homestay has reopened to welcome back visitors. Mina Bui said she is optimistic about Vietnam’s recovery prospects.
Her belief is completely grounded. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism recently reported that the volume of international searches for Vietnam’s tourism has surged significantly, according to Google’s market trend tracker tool.
After Vietnam fully reopened to tourists on March 15, 2022, this index increased by 50-70 percent in Vietnam, the fourth highest increase in the world.
Data from Google shows that the international search volume for flights related to Vietnam increased continuously from early March to early April 2022. By the end of April, the figure was up by 1,114 percent, and continued to climb to 2,000 percent in May compared to the same period in 2021.
Meanwhile, the search volume for accommodation in Vietnam increased more than 4 times from the beginning of April 2022 to mid-May 2022.
Three months after its reopening, the number of international visitors to Vietnam increased sharply in May. The country welcomed around 172,900 foreigners last month, up 70.6 percent against April and 12.8 times higher than the same period of 2021. The number of international arrivals to Vietnam in the first five months of 2022 were 4.5 times higher than that of the same period last year.
The impressive figures show the strong recovery of Vietnam's tourism industry. Now, it is the golden time to make further breakthroughs in tourism.
Tourism not only plays an important role in economic development and creating jobs for workers, but also contributes to affirming the country’s position and promoting cultural exchange between Vietnam and international friends.
However, in order to ensure to make tourism growth be truly sustainable, it is necessary to improve service quality, diversify tourism products, and boost the application of technology in tourist activities.
In addition, it is crucial to draw more active and enthusiastic participation from functional sectors, local authorities, and the entire community.