"India has completely opened up tourism activities and created favorable conditions to welcome international tourists, especially Vietnam, with an electronic visa policy, and simplifying entry and exit procedures, recognizing the vaccine passport between Vietnam and India, opening a direct air route with more than 60 flights per week between the two countries," said Ms. Mini D Kumam from the Indian Embassy in Vietnam.

At a conference promoting Indian tourism in Vietnam held in Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) on August 19, Mr. Pham Van Thuy, vice head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said that India ranks 16th among Vietnam’s tourism markets. And about 50,000 Vietnamese have traveled to India so far this year. This figure shows that India tours are of interest to Vietnamese tourists.

Many domestic tour operators have reported positive signs about Indian tours, especially in the year-end period. 

"The India tours will be especially attractive to Vietnamese tourists in the near future. This country has very convenient entry procedures, creating a competitive advantage with other familiar markets which have not fully opened to foreign tourists such as China, Korea, Japan... Besides, the number of direct flights between the two countries is quite high, creating favorable conditions for tour operators to design tours with affordable prices," said Mr. Bui Thanh Tu, Marketing Director of the Best Price travel firm.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Hien, Director of PYS Travel’s southern branch, said that since 2019, this company has offered high-end India tours. "In September-October 2019, we organized Indian tours for 15 groups of travelers, equivalent to about 500 visitors. Then, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Indian tours were suspended for a long time. After we resumed these tours this year, the number of tourists increased significantly," said Ms. Hien.

According to Ms. Hien, when it comes to Indian tourism, Vietnamese tourists often think of religious pilgrimages. Buddhists consider India as the "land of Buddha" to visit once in a lifetime. In the past, tours to this country were mainly in the form of pilgrimages. During a 13-day tour, visitors will visit famous Buddhist works in India such as Jetavana, Kushinagar or the Ganges River.

"In fact, tourism and services in India are very diverse. We want to offer customers high-class tours, 5-star hotel experiences, and modern services in famous Indian cities like Delhi, Agra, Jaipur. India not only has spiritual tourism but also adventure tourism, health tourism, and resort tourism," Ms. Hien said.

Ms. Mini D Kumam, First Secretary of the Indian Embassy in Vietnam, affirmed that the Indian government has spent a lot to invest in infrastructure, thereby helping to improve the quality of tourism services in India. In addition, the Indian government also attracts investment capital from foreign businesses such as Accor (France), Marriott Hotels (USA), Thomas Cook (UK) to develop tourism infrastructure such as hotels and luxury resorts.

"This is a favorable condition for India to develop high-class tours," Ms. Mini D Kumam said.

Currently, the high-end India tour (6 days 5 nights) costs about VND20 million. "This price is quite competitive with tours to Korea and Japan. It is also a factor attracting Vietnamese tourists," said a representative of Golden Lotus travel firm. The company is also researching the market to launch an Indian tour product at the end of the year.

Linh Trang