Can Vietnam Achieve 25-28 Million Visitors by 2025?
Doubling the effort to move Vietnam’s tourism competitiveness index from rank 59 to the top 30. “From 18 million visitors to 28 million visitors in 2025, stop counting the number of visitors, and instead focus on increasing their spending to double, from 1,200 USD to 2,400 USD per visitor on average.
As Dr. Pham Ha, Chairman and CEO of LuxGroup (www.luxgroup.vn), I believe that achieving the goal of welcoming 25-28 million international visitors by 2025 is entirely feasible, but it requires double the effort and close cooperation from all stakeholders. Here are my perspectives and the necessary strategies for Vietnam to accomplish this goal.
Current Situation and Challenges
In the tourism development plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045, Vietnam aims to become an attractive destination with high tourism development capacity. The goal of welcoming 25-28 million international visitors by 2025 reflects the strong determination of the tourism industry and the aspiration to reach the level of leading countries in the region like Thailand.
In the first five months of 2024, Vietnam received nearly 7.6 million international visitors, an increase of nearly 65% compared to the same period last year and nearly 4% compared to 2019. This shows positive signals, but to achieve the goal of 25-28 million visitors, we need to put in more effort. One of the major challenges is the lack of a cohesive strategy, high-quality human resources, and ineffective destination management.
Focus on Quality Over Quantity
Besides counting the number of visitors, we need to focus on the quality of tourism. If the 25-28 million visitors come from wealthy markets, spend a lot, and stay longer, it will be highly beneficial. On the contrary, if most visitors come through cheap tours, spend little, and don’t stay long, then the goal will not be as effective as expected. Attracting repeat visitors is also an important factor. For example, many Vietnamese tourists visit Thailand 5-6 times, almost every year. Vietnam needs a long-term strategy to attract more repeat visitors.
Market Research and Brand Building
Conducting market research to identify needs, behaviors, and new trends is of paramount importance. We need strategies suitable for each potential high-quality market segment, such as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions), sports, retired tourists, or ultra-wealthy individuals. Additionally, developing a national brand positioning is essential.
Strengthening Tourism Promotion
To effectively promote tourism to each target market, Vietnam needs to ensure sufficient financial resources for promotional campaigns. This budget should be used for annual promotional activities, such as participating in major international tourism fairs and expanding the network of Vietnamese tourism promotion offices abroad.
Visa Exemption Policies and Tourism-Aviation Cooperation
Currently, Vietnam exempts visas for citizens of 25 countries, which is relatively limited compared to other countries in the region like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. To increase competitiveness, Vietnam should expand the visa exemption list to include countries like the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and China.
Tourism-aviation cooperation is also a crucial strategy for attracting international visitors. Vietnam needs to expand its flight network, connecting directly to key markets, and upgrade major transit airports like Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat to increase their capacity to receive international visitors.
Developing New Tourism Products
Vietnam has many strengths in tourism, such as rich cultural heritage, diverse natural landscapes, and many UNESCO-recognized world heritage sites. We need to develop new tourism products, such as community-based tourism models linked to local culture and livelihoods, and unique local culinary experiences. The cultural-tourism sector also needs plans to restore cultural spaces and villages with distinctive architecture of different ethnic groups and invest in adventure tourism.
Training and Enhancing Human Resources Quality
Training and improving the quality of human resources in the tourism industry is essential to provide professional and friendly services. From tour guides, hotel staff to other support services, all need thorough training to meet the increasing demands of tourists.
Leveraging Information Technology
Information technology plays a crucial role in enhancing tourist experiences. We need to use technology to provide online tourism information, online booking and service systems, and mobile applications to guide and support tourists.
Conclusion
To achieve the goal of welcoming 25-28 million international visitors by 2025, Vietnam needs to double its efforts and implement a series of specific strategies and measures. From improving tourism infrastructure, developing diverse tourism products, promoting Vietnam’s image, to training high-quality human resources and leveraging information technology, all need to be implemented in a synchronized and effective manner. We need to know our target customer segments to provide the best service and attract repeat visitors. With close cooperation and high determination, I believe that Vietnam can achieve this goal, making tourism a key economic sector and enhancing its position on the world tourism map.
