
Hanoi – The number of foreign tourists arriving in Vietnam
in February reached 933,000, up 7.1% compared to January, according to the
latest report from the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The February figure represented a 31.6-fold increase compared to
the same period last year before the country completely reopened its borders
and resumed all international tourism activities in mid-March.
All in all, there were 1.8 million foreign visitors arriving in Vietnam
in the first two months of 2023, 36.6 times higher than the first two months of
2022, but barely 60% of the figure of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic
started.
In the first two months, 90.7% of the tourists came to Vietnam by
air (1.6 million), 8.6% by road (154,900), and 0.7% by sea (13,000).
Most of the visitors are from Asia with 1.29 million, followed by
European visitors (242,500), Americas (186,300), Oceania (77,300), and Africa
(4,300).
Vietnam aims to welcome 8 million foreign tourists this year, a
modest figure compared to 19 million tourists the country received in 2019.
The goal was set at the beginning of 2023, before China, a major
market that contributes nearly a third of the total of foreign visitors to Vietnam
in pre-pandemic years announced its reopening plan in February.
However, it should be noted that China has not included Vietnam in
the list of 20 countries to where travel companies can organise outbound tours
with “flights hotels” service (which include Thailand, New Zealand,
Russia, Singapore, Cuba, South Africa, etc.) in its tourism resumption
announcement on February 6.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has proposed China
restart outbound travel tours to Vietnam to improve and recover tourism between
the two countries in a diplomatic note.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said during March
7-9, Vietnam will attend the 2023 ITB Berlin Fair, the world’s largest annual
tourism trade fair with 180,000 visitors expected this year.
Vietnam will build a 450m2 pavilion under the theme of
“Reconnecting” after COVID-19 disruptions. Vietnam’s tourism will
prioritise ‘reconnections’ with markets, partners, tourists and the public in
German and European nations.
Many travel agencies and tourism companies will also be present to
introduce Vietnam’s travel policies, destinations, and their new tourism
products – especially health-related and sustainable, responsible tourism.
New websites, video clips and publications for new promotional
campaigns for Vietnam’s tourism will be unveiled at this event.
The two-month tourism revenue is estimated at 4.7 trillion VND
(about 197 million USD), 2.2 times higher than the same period last year, as
localities this year can resume spring festivals completely uninhabited by
COVID-19 restrictions, drawing a large number of domestic travellers./.