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| A Vietravel Airlines aircraft. (Photo courtesy of Vietravel Airlines) |
After more than two years of operation, Vietravel Airlines has three Airbus A321 aircraft, with a total investment capital of 1,300 billion VND.
The carrier plans to add over 6,900 billion VND to its current investment capital, taking the total to 7,642 billion VND by 2025. The figure is expected to reach 8,252 billion VND in 2030.
Shareholders of Vietravel Airlines will contribute an additional 700 billion VND to raise the company’s contributed capital to 2,000 billion VND. The company will mobilize funds from stock investors and other sources for the balance.
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| Photo for illustration (Source: nld.com.vn) |
According to Vietravel Airlines chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky, the capital increase aims to meet the development strategy of the airline, mainly expanding its fleet.
For a newly-established airline, aircraft fleet expansion is a prerequisite to survive and grow. He added that the firm could only earn profit when it possesses sufficient aircraft to meet travel demand.
The airline has made no profit over the past two years due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the small fleet size.
New products, services needed to reach tourism targets
To realise the targets of attracting 110 million tourists and earning some 650 trillion VND (27.5 billion USD) in revenue this year, Vietnam is recommended to develop more products and services to offer new experiences to visitors, reported VNA.
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| Visitors to Hanoi on a bus tour (Photo: VNA) |
The VNDirect Securities JSC held that the aviation and tourism industries will record breakthrough growth from 2023 thanks to the strong recovery of international markets.
The number of foreign arrivals in Vietnam is predicted to completely return to pre-pandemic levels by next year 2024 and be equivalent to 118.9% of the 2019 figure, before the COVID-19 broke out, a year later, the Lao dong (Labour) daily reported.
The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) recently also forecast the international tourist number may reach 80 - 95% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023.
The Vietfoot Travel company said the country’s tourism sector, including travel and event planning firms, will have opportunities to bounce back and soon regain its 2019 growth trend.
Vietnam welcomed 871,200 international arrivals in January. It targets 8 million foreigners for this year.
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| Foreign tourists visit the Old Quarter of Hanoi by pedicab. (Photo: VNA) |
Despite a surge in the tourist number since the year’s beginning, the sector is still facing difficulties and challenges.
Lao dong quoted General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh as saying that due to impacts of the global economic recession and domestic socio-economic changes, travellers’ purchasing power has decreased and they tend to curb spending on middle- and high-end services.
To achieve the set targets, many experts recommended the sector develop new products and services, diversify and improve the quality of services, and increase experiences to meet tourists’ demand.
They added travel businesses should also increase communications and promotion activities, stay updated with market trends, and ensure security and safety of destinations. It is also necessary to enhance tourism connectivity among localities to attract more domestic and international visitors.
Fruit and vegetable exports record impressive growth
According to VOV, fruit and vegetable exports received positive signs during the initial months of the year with the number of export orders to the major markets such as the United States and the EU growing by 20% to 30% against the same period from last year, according to industry insiders.
Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Group, said the group signed a contract to export 1,500 containers of durian to Chinese market late last year, adding that despite factors relating to high inflation, as well as a decline in consumer demand in several export markets, there are bright prospects ahead for fruit exports at the beginning of the year.
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| Photo for illustration (Source: vov.vn) |
Ngo Thi Thu Hong, director of Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company, emphazised that the firm’s export orders had soared by about 30% on-year, noting that it is also exporting fruits such as durian and seedless lemons to markets such as the EU, Japan, and China.
Hong revealed that the company has launched durian products for exports to the Chinese market as it was granted a planting area code in December, 2022.
Along with the Chinese market, the firm has also shipped durian to the EU market with customers purchasing between one and three tonnes per week in a stable manner.
With regard to the EU market, Tran Van Cong, the country’s agricultural counselor in the EU, pointed out that each year the market imports fruit and vegetables worth about US$120 billion, accounting for 40% of the global total import and export turnover.
However, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable export turnover to the EU market has reached about US$190 million, making up a small proportion compared to the market share that the EU is importing.
In the structure of fruit and vegetable exports to the EU market over recent time, fresh products account for approximately 70%, while processed products make up only 30%.
According to details given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the consumption amount of fruit and vegetables has seen an increase in the EU. However, the EU market has set forth a range of stringent requirements on traceability and product quality standards, especially food safety and hygiene.
Therefore, local businesses are advised to fully grasp information about the market, including consumer tastes, standards on rules of origin, food safety and hygiene, to make further inroads into the demanding market./.