Vietnam’s tourism industry is taking a number of measures to increase service quality to welcome a greater number of Chinese visitors to the country, which is estimated to rise 50% to four million this year.

Chinese tourists in Nha Trang City

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism is working with some localities that are popular destinations among Chinese tourists such as Quang Ninh, Danang and Khanh Hoa to cope with travel firms providing poor-quality tours to protect the interests of customers.

The agency also organizes many tourism promotion programs in China. Particularly, from May 11 to 20, the agency will cooperate with several travel firms to introduce Vietnam’s tourism in four Chinese cities, including Nanning, Fuzhou, Nanjing and Hefei.

The number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam has increased rapidly and is forecast to set a new record by the end of this year, with four million visitors, compared to 2.7 million in 2016.

The most popular Vietnamese destinations chosen by Chinese tourists include Hanoi, Halong, and Ninh Binh in the north; Danang, Hoi An, Hue and Nha Trang in the central region; and HCMC and Phu Quoc in the south.

Tour operators have also prepared themselves for the upsurge in Chinese arrivals.

“Last year, the number of Chinese visitors increased by 50% and we expect strong growth this year. Therefore, we have to prepare hotel rooms in advance to ensure better service for the tourist season at the end of 2017,” said Tu Quy Thanh, director of Lien Bang Travel Trading Company Limited (Lien Bang Travelink).

Similarly, Chinese tourists account for 60-70% of total international arrivals catered to by local tour operator Vietravel, and the company usually receives large orders for groups of tourists all year round.

SGT