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| At the 2023 WTA awards ceremony on December 1, Vietnam was honored for the 4th time as “The World's Leading Heritage Destination”. (Photo: WTA) |
Vietnamese destinations honored internationally
In 2023, the image of Vietnamese tourism was enhanced and positioned more clearly on the world map. The competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism continues to be improved.
Vietnam’s tourism industry is honored to receive many prestigious international awards, with 19 top awards in the world and 54 top awards in Asia awarded by the World Travel Awards. In particular, Vietnam was honored as “The World's Leading Heritage Destination” for the fourth time, and became “Asia’s Leading Destination” for the fifth time.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) was awarded the title of “Asia’s leading tourism management agency” for the fourth time. Many Vietnamese destinations and tourism businesses also received other prestigious award categories.
In addition to prestigious tourism awards, many Vietnamese destinations have been praised by international media in 2023.
In January 2023, Con Dao was voted by American travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler as one of the 16 best destinations for summer vacation. After that, Sydney Morning Herald’s travel site Traveler identified the Mekong Delta as one of the most attractive places in the world in 2023 that tourists should not miss.
In April, US Forbes magazine rated Ninh Binh as one of the 23 best tourist destinations in 2023.
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| Mui Ne is among world’s top six budget travel destinations for autumn. (Photo: Vietnaminsider) |
Famous Dutch online travel company Booking.com has honored Mui Ne as one of the world’s top six budget travel destinations for autumn. Meanwhile, TripAdvisor honored Da Nang at first place in the list of the world's most worth-visiting tourist destinations. Mu Cang Chai in the ripe rice season and Ha Long Bay were also voted by Condé Nast Traveler as the most colorful destinations in the world in 2023.
Exceeding target of welcoming tourists in 2023
According to a report by the VNAT, in 2023, Vietnam welcomed 12.6 million international visitors, 3.4 times higher than 2022, far exceeding the target of 8 million international visitors in 2023 and achieving the target of 12.5-13 million visitors. The number of domestic tourists reached 108.2 million; exceeding 6% of the 2023 plan. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at 678 trillion VND, exceeding 4.3% of the 2023 plan.
The Republic of Korea (RoK) led the tourist sending markets to Vietnam with approximately 3.6 million visitors, accounting for 28% of the total number of visitors to the country, followed by China with 1.74 million. The total two markets made up 42% of the total international visitors to Vietnam.
Markets in Europe saw positive growth rates such as the UK with 48.6%, France approximately 52%, Germany 48.6%, Spain 90%, and Italy 68%. This result came from Vietnam’s opening up its unilateral visa exemption policy for temporary residence periods of up to 45 days, effective from August 15, 2023.
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| International tourists want to find different experiences when coming to Vietnam. (Photo: VNA) |
Recovery of the number of tourists has brought revenue from accommodation and food services in 2023 to 673.5 trillion VND, accounting for 10.8% of the total and increasing by 14.7% compared to the previous year. Travel tourism revenue is estimated at 37.8 trillion VND and increased by 52.5% compared to the previous year.
Striving to welcome 17-18 million international visitors in 2024
From the successes in attracting tourists to Vietnam, in 2024, the tourism industry aims to welcome 17-18 million international visitors; serve 110 million domestic tourists; and reach total tourism revenue of about 840 trillion VND.
According to Director of VNAT Nguyen Trung Khanh, forecasts of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism activities in 2024 can recover to the same level achieved in 2019.
However, the needs of international tourists are constantly changing, increasingly demanding product quality, experience, diversity and uniqueness. The trend of applying information technology, artificial intelligence and digital transformation will promote the formation of new approaches in tourism.
Therefore, aiming to achieve the goal of welcoming 18 million international visitors, the tourism industry is required to develop various types of products such as agricultural tourism and digital transformation in tourism. At the same time, it should strengthen management of travel business, tour guide, and accommodation establishments, specifically training and fostering staff to meet task requirements in the new situation./.