
Hanoi – With stronger tourism growth forecast for this year, the domestic
market is expected to give the strongest boost to the recovery of this sector.
Not Chinese
travellers or any other sources of international tourists, it is the domestic
sector that will remain the “brightest” factor helping Vietnam’s tourism continue
recovering strongly in 2023, Nguyen Huu Y Yen, General Director of the Saigontourist
Travel Service Co. Ltd, said as cited by Thanh nien (Young people) newspaper.
He said
before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the three biggest sources of foreign
visitors to Vietnam were China, Russia, and the Republic of Korea (RoK).
Charter
flights from the RoK have been resumed just recently while there haven’t been
many Chinese tourists, and Russian tourists haven’t returned. The European and
US markets have begun to bounce back but are unlikely to record a breakthrough in
2023, he pointed out.
Yen
expected the number of international tourists in 2023 will return to about 50%
of the 2019 level. Meanwhile, in just over six months of 2022, the number of
domestic travellers rebounded to over 50% of the pre-pandemic level, and this
year’s figure will definitely reach 70 – 75%. Outbound tourism will also share
the same trend.
The
domestic market can regain the 2019 growth in 2024, the Saigontourist CEO predicted.
About 9
million Vietnamese travelled during the recent Lunar New Year holiday, surging 47.5%
year on year, statistics show.
Nguyen
Trung Khanh, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism,
expressed his belief that 2023 will be a vibrant year for Vietnamese tourism in
terms of both domestic and international markets.
He cited
some experts as saying that the world will witness vigorous growth in travel
demand this year. As a bright spot in the global tourism map, Vietnam will
definitely not be out of this trend./.