Good news at the beginning of the new year
In 2024, the tourism industry aims to welcome 17-18 million international visitors; serve 110 million domestic visitors; and reach total tourism revenue of about 840 trillion VND. To achieve this goal, the entire industry requires great efforts.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said that in 2023 Vietnamese tourism welcomed 12.6 million international visitors, with total revenue from tourism activities estimated at 678 trillion VND. With the impressive acceleration of the tourism industry from the end of 2023, especially the signs of improvement in the beginning of the new year 2024, Vietnamese tourism can achieve the set targets and fully recover its pre-COVID-19 performance.
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| International tourists visit Hanoi's Old Quarter by cyclo (Photo: VNA) |
There are good signs right at the beginning of the new year 2024 when during the New Year holiday, many localities achieved impressive numbers in terms of number of visitors and revenue, increasing higher than in 2023. Typically, Hanoi city is estimated to welcome 402,000 visitors, total revenue from tourists is estimated to reach nearly 1.5 trillion VND; Quang Ninh province welcomed 179,000 visitors, total revenue was estimated at 340 billion VND; Ninh Binh province welcomed nearly 313,000 visitors, total revenue reached 420 billion VND; Thanh Hoa province welcomed about 105,000 visitors, total revenue reached about 142 billion VND; Da Nang city welcomed about 261,000 visitors, an increase of 34.7% over the same period last year.
Entering 2024, most provinces and cities have set high goals for tourism development. Large localities such as Hanoi city strive to welcome 26.5 million visitors, including 5 million international visitors; Ho Chi Minh City is determined to welcome about 40 million visitors, including 5 million international visitors.
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| A corner of Hoi An (Photo: New Hanoi) |
Director of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh said that after nearly 2 years of implementing recovery measures, Vietnamese tourism is gaining momentum. 2024 will be the time for tourism to accelerate and increase competitiveness with countries in the region.
Strengthen connections and create attraction
In 2024, the world and Vietnamese tourism industry still faces many challenges and difficulties. What is easy to see is that the world situation continues to evolve unpredictably; slow economic growth greatly affects the psychology and spending ability of tourists.
In addition, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) stated that the needs of international tourists are constantly changing, in which the trend of applying information technology, artificial intelligence and digital transformation will promote the formation of new ways of tourism. This is a challenge that forces tourism businesses to change.
From a business perspective, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Company Nguyen Quoc Ky said that Vietnam's tourism is growing again, but looking at other countries, the growth is still modest, typically Thailand is receiving more tourists than Vietnam. Therefore, for tourism to have a better breakthrough, there needs to be a comprehensive change in awareness, methods, product promotion and image of Vietnamese tourism.
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| The tourism industry expects a strong breakthrough in 2024, welcoming 17-18 million international visitors (Photo: VnEconomy) |
According to Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh, the tourism links between aviation, travel and destination units and businesses are no longer as tight as before. This makes Vietnam's tourism products gradually less attractive, many domestic tourist routes have higher service prices than international tourism.
"To increase competitiveness, alliances and connections are needed to create quality products, good prices, and increase attraction to both international and domestic customers," said Mr. Binh.
The goal of Vietnamese tourism in 2024 is very clear. To fully recover, Vietnamese tourism needs a strategy to relieve "bottlenecks" in policy and communication.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said that the Ministry has asked the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism to continue advising on improving institutions and policies, reviewing inadequacies that need to be adjusted, and collaborating with ministries and branches to create policies to develop various types of products such as agricultural tourism, digital transformation in tourism.
“The tourism industry will strengthen tourism statistics; promote tourism promotion; focus on training human resources with high professional qualifications, especially proficiency in foreign languages and technology," said Mr. Hung./.