(TITC) - The monitoring travel trends tool Google Destination Insights and the number of international arrivals show the positive recovery of Vietnam tourism since fully reopening the tourism from 15th March 2022.
Search volume for Vietnam tourism up 4 times compared to before opening
Data from Google pointed out that the search volume for Vietnam tourism from foreign countries increases gradually month by month. Especially, the number of search volume for accommodation in Vietnam, in March 2022, international search volume only reached 25 points, however, after a month, this index has increased almost 2 times at 48 points. The international search volume for tourist accommodation in Vietnam continued to grow in the following months, in May 2022 earned 78 points, up 3 times compared to March 2022 and 98 points in June 2022 and 100 points in July 2022, up 4 times compared to the period before reopening. (Figure 1)
Figure 1. International search volume for accommodation in Vietnam from 1st March 2022 to 5th July 2022
Source: Google Destination Insights
Same goes to the international search volume for airlines to Vietnam. By July 2022, the number of international search volume for airlines to Vietnam has increased 3 times compared to the period of March 2022. (Figure 2)
Figure 2. International search volume for airlines to Vietnam from 1st March 2022 to 5th July 2022
Source: Google Destination Insights
International visitors to Vietnam up 6 times
According to data of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, international visitors to Vietnam in the first 6 months of 2022 reached 602,000 arrivals, up 582.2% compared to the same period of 2021. In which, the number of visitors in June 2022 reached 237,000 arrivals, 6 times higher than March 2022 with 42,000 arrivals. Although the number of visitors remains low, the growth shows a positive sign of recovery in the upcoming time.
Figure 3. International visitors to Vietnam in the first 6 months of 2022 (thousand arrivals)
Source: General Statistic Office of Vietnam
The statistics from the Business Registration Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment), in the first 6 months of 2022, the number of newly established businesses related to the tourism sector has had an impressive increase, of which: Tourist accommodation and catering services reached 3,065 enterprises, up 27.7% compared to the same period of 2021; employment and tourism services reached 3,902 enterprises, up 23.4%.
The prospect of business recovery in the tourism sector is crystal clear when a high number of businesses in this field return to operations. The number of businesses returning to operations in the first 6 months of 2022 in the field of accommodation and catering reached 2,362 enterprises, up 63.5% compared to the same period of 2021; employment and tourism services reached 2,215 enterprises, up 50.5%.
It is clear that the decision of reopening the tourism has given a bright sight to the tourism industry vibrant again, creating jobs for workers and pushing businesses back into the market.
World tourism is growing again, Asia - Pacific region recovers slowly
According to UNWTO’s barometer published in May 2022, UNWTO’s experts assessed that world tourism is on the way to recover, the growth will be greater from May to June 2022. However, the recovery in tourism has been uneven across regions of the world. Europe and America regions leading the sector’s rebound, reaching 280% and 117% respectively in the 1st quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, Asia - Pacific region recorded a 64% increase over 2021 but again, levels were 93% below 2019 numbers - before the pandemic outbreak. The main reason is because several destinations remained closed to non-essential travel, including China, where applying the “Zero-Covid” policy and has not yet opened for international tourism.
UNWTO drew out 2 recovering scenarios for international tourist arrivals in 2022, in which, the first scenario is 30% lower than in 2019 and the second scenario is 45% lower.
Figure 4. UNWTO’s scenarios for international tourist arrivals in 2022
Source: UNWTO
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