The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has released instructions for the Vietnam Tourism Awards 2018, with requirements for nominations being made more quantitative.

International tourists arrive in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province by ship. Nominees for the top 10 inbound tour operators of the Vietnam Tourism Awards 2018 must serve at least 10,000 tourists a year 

The awards will honor the top 10 inbound tour operators in Vietnam, the top 10 domestic tour operators, the top 15 five-star hotels, the top 15 four-star hotels and the top transport companies, restaurants, tourist parks and many other businesses active in the tourism sector.

This year’s nomination requirements are more detailed and stricter, with a focus on the number of tourists, service quality and legal compliance.

Nominees for the top 10 inbound tour operators must serve at least 10,000 tourists a year while the number for the top 10 domestic tour operators is 20,000 tourists a year. Four and five-star hotels will not be able to join the race unless their average room occupancy is 50% or above.

Despite the more stringent criteria, some travel firms and hotels told the Daily that these requirements are not too hard to meet for big firms. Many travel companies even serve hundreds of thousands of tourists a year and many hotels in major cities have average room occupancy rates of 70-80%.

First organized in 1999, the Vietnam Tourism Awards are the most prestigious annual awards of Vietnam’s tourism sector. The awards aim to honor leading enterprises which have been successful in improving tourism service quality, diversifying tourism products, promoting Vietnam tourism, and making significant contribution to tourism development.

The Vietnam Tourism Awards 2018 will be announced in early July.

Data of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism shows there are around 1,800 inbound tour operators nationwide at present. As of late 2017, there were 25,600 lodging facilities offering 508,000 guest rooms across the country, with average room occupancy estimated at 57%. Of these, there are 116 five-star hotels, 259 four-star hotels, and 488 three-star hotels.

The country served 12.8 million foreign tourists and 73.2 million domestic tourists last year. In this year’s first quarter, international arrivals hit 4.2 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.9%, the Government announced at a meeting in Hanoi on April 2.

SGT