On an autumn afternoon in November at Lan Ha Bay in Hai Phong City, many foreign travelers were seen queuing at the pier, waiting for their turn to go kayaking or get on board to visit Sang Toi cave.

Most travelers were from Europe and the US but there were also travelers from India, Singapore and South Korea.

Akash, 45, told VietNamNet that he was from India and his group included eight people. They flew from India to Da Nang, where they went sea bathing, and discovered Ba Na Hills. After visiting Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha, the travelers would leave for Hanoi.

“This is the first time I have been to Vietnam. The landscapes here are wonderful, and the people are friendly. I really like Da Nang,” he said.

Pham Ha, president of Lux Group, which has tourism boats operating on Lan Ha Bay, said they have been busy on the last days of the year. 

The number of foreign travelers is only equal to half of that of 2019, but there are Indian and Middle Eastern travelers this year thanks to the opening of non-stop air routes, and also loyal German travelers.

Vietnam is now a hot destination for many Indian travelers. The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that in November, Vietnam received 27,000 Indian travelers, up by 31 percent over the previous month and 50 percent over the same period 2019. 

In the first 11 months of 2022, the total number of Indian travelers to Vietnam reached 109,000, ranking  9th out of 10 foreign markets. The average growth rate was 49 percent a month.

In 2022, when Vietnam’s key markets were still quiet (China, South Korea, Japan and Russia), these figures showed strong jumps from potential markets like India.

As for conquering niche markets, Nguyen Anh Tuan, director of Tourism Development Research Institute, said a small travel firm in Hanoi, through social media, reached the Haiti market. The firm then received a group of 20 clients who took a trip discovering Vietnam for 39 days.

“After the pandemic, foreign travelers have different demands and tastes. It is necessary for travel firms to better understand clients’ tastes and learn about niche and new markets such as Mongolia, India, the Middle East and South America,” he said. 

Vietnam has great advantages in natural conditions and culture that can satisfy clients’ tastes. Vietnam can access clients through different channels, including social media, digital apps and tourism promotion.

Gearing up

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), in November 2022, the number of foreign travelers to Vietnam rose to 569,900, up 23.2 percent over the month before. 

In the first 11 months of the year, 2.95 million foreign travelers came to Vietnam. Vietnam failed to receive the targeted 5 million foreign travelers in 2022, but it showed encouraging results.

After EATOF (East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum), Quang Ninh received large groups of foreign travelers, including 150 travelers from South Korea, 650 from Malaysia and 150 from France who stayed on a high-end cruise at Ha Long Bay. This was an important step for Quang Ninh to continue to apply measures to receive more (estimated at 11.5 million) foreign travelers this year.

Returning from the World Travel Market (WTM London 2022) held in early November, Ha said Vietnam is now one of the destinations favored by European travelers after Covid-19. Foreign travelers are interested in new post-Covid products and new experiences related to nature and health.

However, in 2022, markets such as Europe and North America did not recover well because of the impact from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the difficult economy because of recession and inflation, and weak consumption. Travelers prioritized closer destinations.

Prospects

Vietnam Airlines has resumed routine commercial flights to Guangzhou and Shanghai. Bamboo Airways provides chartered flights between Hanoi and Tianjin, and Vietjet Air has resumed some flights also.

After WTM London 2022, Vietnam attended Vietnam Tourism Promotion Forum in New Delhi on December 12-14. HCM City will introduce its tourism on CNN. On November 7-13, Hanoi received a famtrip of 12 travel firms from Australia.

Ngoc Ha