Vietnam to diversify tourism products to attract more visitors

To meet the diverse needs of domestic and international visitors, Vietnam will focus on different types of tourism products, including developing more sea and island tourism, culture tourism, ecotourism, including community-based tourism, urban tourism, and MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism, according to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT).

At the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival in April, nearly 400 products and services were introduced to visitors, while the 2024 Vietnam International Travel Mart in Hanoi offered more than 1,000 promotional tours and products.

Many businesses have also organised stimulus and discount programmes during summer holidays, and launched many new product lines to attract tourists.

The VNAT forecast that in the coming time, the number of domestic holidaymakers will continue to grow but at a slower pace. The trend of applying information technology, artificial intelligence and digital transformation will promote the formation of new methods of tourism.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in 2024, the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam is forecast to reach the same level as in 2019, at around 17-18 million. The country is also aiming to serve 110 million domestic visitors, and earn around 840 trillion VND (33 billion USD) from future holidaymakers.

In the first five months of this year, Vietnam served nearly 7.6 million international holidaymakers, up 64.9% year-on-year and 3.9% compared to the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Meanwhile, the number of domestic visitors reached 52.5 million.

Revenue from accommodation and catering services in the reviewed period was estimated to reach 296.3 trillion VND, an increase of 15.1% over the same period last year, while travel tourism revenue totaled an estimated 24.2 trillion VND, marking a year-on-year rise of 45.1%.

By 2025, the country is expected to welcome 19 - 20 million international visitors, and serve 120 million domestic visitors. Tourism will directly contribute 7 - 9% of GDP, and create 5.5 million jobs, including about 1.8 million direct positions of employment./.