(TAN): Vietnam’s tourism industry plays a significant role in the country’s economic development. Keeping this in mind, the government had in 2011 announced a strategy to develop the country’s travel sector until 2020.
The strategy included overall as well as specific targets to improve the industry, of which the overall target looked to develop the sector as a highly professional economic industry with upgraded infrastructure, and competitive, diversified and traditional tourist products.
Vietnam government’s tourism strategy also mentioned specific targets – the sector aimed to welcome 10 to 10.5 million international visitors and around 48 million domestic tourists by 2020. According to data from the World Tourism & Travel Council (WTTC), Vietnam is expected to draw around 14.5 million international visitors in 2019.
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It also looked to bring home a total revenue worth USD 18 to 19 billion under the strategy by 2020, employing 3 million people in the process. By 2030, the government expected the revenue to double that of 2020. It aimed to make the sector contribute 6.5% to 7% of the country’s GDP.
Vietnam, by the end of 2018, had exceeded most of its targets for 2020. While the tourism sector accounted for 9.2% of Vietnam’s GDP as per WTTC data, it created over 4 million jobs in 2018, constituting 7.4% of the total employment. International visitors spent 9,985 million during the year. Vietnam expects to employ over 4.5 million people in the sector by 2029.
Despite the impressive numbers, there is a need for improvements in some of Vietnam’s tourism infrastructure, such as airport infrastructure and the night economy, reports said.
Vietnam’s major airports reportedly operate at overcapacity. According to a report, overcapacity for Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport is 30% while that of Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport is 15%.
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The shortage of tourism products and services, which in turn hampers visitors’ entertainment and shopping needs, is the other area of concern, reports said. Vietnam could reportedly benefit from night-time activities, such as night markets, with longer hours for tourist activities.
Hanoi enables business activities and night markets to operate in the city’s Old Quarter until 2am from Friday to Sunday, reports said. The city will also reportedly host Vietnam’s first Formula One race next year, which is expected to boost visitor arrivals in Hanoi.
Well-trained personnel and stronger application of information technology are other limiting factors, reports said.
“…local attractions are often restrained by the system”, Cao Tri Dung, chairperson of a local tourist association was quoted by vnexpress as saying.
