Seizing opportunities, making efforts to innovate, diversifying products and boosting promotion are the solutions that key tourism localities will continue to promote in 2023.
Number of domestic tourists rises sharply
In 2022, many key tourism localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Southeastern provinces and cities, and the Mekong Delta all recorded sharp increases in both tourist arrivals and revenue.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, efforts in innovation, improvement, exploitation of destinations, and strengthening linkages with domestic and international provinces and cities, helped the city’s tourism achieve impressive results.
The southern hub greeted over 31.2 million domestic tourists in 2022, an increase of over 234% compared to 2021, and received more than 3.4 million international visitors, an increase of 100% from the previous year.
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| The lighthouse and giant statue of Christ the King in Vung Tau attract many tourists. (Photo: VNA) |
Also located in the Southeast, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, with its advantages in sea, island, resort and cultural tourism, attracted over 12.6 million visitors. The occupancy of accommodation establishments, especially those located near the sea, was always more than 95%.
Meanwhile, according to the Mekong Delta Tourism Association, 13 provinces and cities welcomed more than 44 million visitors in 2022. Their revenue from tourism reached nearly 34,000 billion VND, up nearly 217% compared to last year.
In Dong Thap, the Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism noted that the province continues to promote the strengths of eco-tourism, agriculture, cultural tourism and craft villages associated with creating the image of tourism in the land of Pink Lotus. In 2022, Dong Thap greeted over 3.4 million visitors, earning a revenue of 1,500 billion VND and reaching 150% of the set plan.
A leader of the Kien Giang Tourism Department said that with many highly competitive destinations such as Phu Quoc and Ha Tien cities, in 2022, the total number of tourists to Kien Giang reached 7.5 million, up 142% against 2021. Total revenue from tourism was 10,585 billion VND, up nearly 231%.
Creating comprehensive development step
Despite an impressive number of tourists in 2022, the actual number of international visitors to each locality as well as the whole country is still very modest.
Besides, many tourists still want each locality to have more outstanding tourism products, creating its own mark and making it more attractive.
Southern localities should propose solutions to promote the development of tourist segments in order to achieve more equal growth in both domestic and international tourist flows.
According to Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, in 2023, the city’s tourism will continue to tighten the friendship and close relationship between the city and other provinces, cities and localities at home and abroad; and promote socio-economic development through the formation of a large tourist market with tens of millions of people.
The city and other localities continue to form many unique inter-regional tourism products, contributing to increasing the attractiveness and competitiveness of tourism in each locality, as well as in Ho Chi Minh City.
At the same time, the city will boost promotion of its tourism brand, diversifying promotional tools, prioritizing fast-acting tools; increasing the use of electronic marketing activities and marketing through media; regularly organizing business delegations and foreign press to survey tourism products; and organizing seminars, and participating in direct and online international fairs.
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| Tourists watch the sunset on Bai Truong, site of the most beautiful sunset in Vietnam. (Photo: VNA) |
Kien Giang continues to implement solutions to restructure the tourism industry, creating a breakthrough in comprehensive development for the province’s tourism. The province has set a target to welcome 8.3 million visitors in 2023, up 48.2% compared to the 2022 plan; of which 400,000 are international visitors, up 100%.
Aiming to achieve the above goal, the Kien Giang tourism industry continues to improve the quality of tourism promotion activities and further advertise on the media; develop tourism products and new tours connecting Kien Giang with domestic and international cities and provinces.
Along with the key tourist areas of Phu Quoc, the province focuses on increasing the rate of visitors to other destinations such as Ha Tien city - Kien Luong district and its vicinity, Rach Gia city - Kien Hai district - Hon Dat district and its vicinity, and U Minh Thuong district and its vicinity.
With Dong Thap tourism, according to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Huynh Minh Tuan, the locality will promote the development of rural tourism in association with promoting the potential and advantages of agriculture, craft villages, culture and ecological environment in order to improve the material and spiritual life of rural people, contributing to the transformation of rural economic structure towards multi-value integration, inclusiveness and sustainable development.
The province will gradually develop and standardize rural tourism destinations and products, and build a database and digital map of rural tourist attractions in the area; creating unique features to attract more domestic and international tourists to the land of Pink Lotus in the near future./ .