Vietnamese tourists at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The demand for travelling abroad from Vietnamese people has been increasing in recent years. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – Outbound tourism has become increasingly popular
among Vietnamese, however, the tourism industry has been slow to embrace this
new phenomenon.

Currently, the tourism industry has three main markets: inbound tourism
(bringing international visitors to Vietnam), outbound tourism (Vietnamese
travelling abroad) and domestic tourism.

In countries with developed tourism industries, there is even growth in all
three markets. However, in Vietnam, outbound tourism has not been paid enough
attention to and appreciated by the tourism industry.

That can be seen by the fact that the number of and revenue from foreign
visitors and domestic tourists are announced while those of Vietnamese tourists
abroad are not.

According to vice director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Ha
Van Sieu, in order to develop the tourism industry, we need to pay attention to
both inbound and outbound tourism.

“Until now, in the Law on Tourism or in the action programmes of the
tourism industry, we have only focused on receiving foreign visitors. This is
because the more tourists come, the more they spend, the longer they stay, the
better the tourism business will be,” Sieu said.

However, developing outbound tourism is also important for tourism businesses
as well as meeting increasing demand.

The important thing is that State management agencies need to have policies and
regulations to organise travel abroad in a safe and healthy way and ensure the
quality of travel services, Sieu said.

“This is a big issue we need to figure out to serve the needs of the people,”
the vice director said.

Travelling is a regular need and a human right and tourism is said to be a
“happy industry”, bringing joy and happiness to people on each trip,
according to the official.

According to Assoc., Dr. Pham Hong Long, head of Tourism Department of the
Social Sciences and Humanities University, said that outbound tourism services
prove that a country’s economy is stable from the ground up. When people travel
a lot, it proves that the country’s economy is growing.

The high volume of outbound tourists contributes to stronger connections
between countries, thereby opening up more investment cooperation
opportunities. In fact, many people travel abroad in the form of business
tourism and they bring with them greater investment opportunities.

“When people travel a lot, their knowledge and awareness also increase,
helping society develop better,” said Long.

Outbound tourism as a development strategy

After the pandemic is controlled, the number of Vietnamese travelling abroad
has dramatically increased.

Along with package tours to Southeast and East Asian countries, Europe, America
and the Middle East are also chosen by tourists as destinations, thereby
showing that people’s living standards are increasingly improving.

However, some travel companies say that facilitating Vietnamese travel abroad
also carries some risks. There are companies hiding in the shadow of travel
companies who send Vietnamese people abroad in the form of tourism but then
these tourists stay to work illegally, which badly affects the reputation of
Vietnamese travel companies.

According to experts, to make outbound tourism activities effective, there
should be sanctions to strictly punish tourism profiteers who send workers
abroad illegally. Firms must also strengthen the awareness of tourists to
behave civilly and elegantly in public places so as to contribute to enhancing
the image of Vietnamese people in the world.

Sieu said that many countries developed outbound tourism as a strategy to
develop tourism industries.

“Currently, there is no specialised management programme on developing
outbound tourism services. The benefits of outbound tourism have not been
properly analysed. If we want to become a powerful tourism country, we must pay
more attention to these services,” said Sieu.

“Currently, we have 14 departments specialising in tourism. If the mindset
of doing outbound tourism is to take care of people’s needs to travel abroad,
to provide information and to recommend safe travel programmes, outbound
tourism will be effective,” Sieu said.

The state management of tourism from central to local levels should focus more
on the management of outbound tourism, he said.

“To develop sustainable tourism, it is necessary to continue to amend the
law to enhance the role of outbound tourism so as to comprehensively develop the
tourism industry,” he added./.