According to the latest ranking of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Vietnam is still ranked only 5th in the ASEAN region in terms of foreign visitors despite being one of the three countries with the highest growth rate of international tourists in the world (after Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia).

Lessons learned from other countries of ASEAN 

Vietnam Travel and Tourism Summit 2018 is part of the Vietnam Economic Forum 2018 (ViEF) taking place on December 5 to 6. At that time, lessons learned from Thailand, which has always led Southeast Asia in terms of international arrivals, will be shared. In particular, there are issues that Vietnam needs to improve immediately to achieve the set goals such as the visa policy, national tourism promotion, tourism infrastructure, and environmental sustainability, etc.‎

‎In 2017, Vietnam exempted bilateral and unilateral visas for 24 countries and territories, while Thailand exempted 57 countries and territories. The number of countries exempted from 30 days or more of Vietnam is 8 whereas Thailand is 55. ‎

Tourism is an important economic contributor to the Kingdom of Thailand

‎According to statistics of the World Economic Forum, Thailand spent US$69 million on media, while Vietnam only spent about US$2 million in 2017. The Thais really know how to do marketing, since they constantly launch new media programs. Although Amazing Thailand has been used since 1998, depending on the stages, Thailand has different media programs such as ‎‎A Hidden Thailand, Thailand - Happiness on Earth, Opening New Nuances.‎‎ ‎

‎Vietnam used its first slogan in 2001, ‎‎Vietnam - The destination of the new millennium;‎‎ then ‎‎Come to Vietnam ‎‎(2004), Vietnam - Hidden ‎‎Beauty ‎‎(2006), and Vietnam - ‎‎Endless Beauty from 2011 to now‎.

‎Reported in 2017, revenue from Thailand's tourism industry reached US$57 billion, contributing 9.3% of GDP. Meanwhile, Vietnam earned US$23 billion, contributing 7.5% of GDP. Thailand is particularly interested in building and promoting resorts, shopping, and entertainment tourism products to retain visitors and create specific tourism products, whilst Vietnam’s tourism mainly exploits the available resources. ‎

Adjusting the visa policy

‎At the Vietnam Travel and Tourism Summit 2018, we will have proposed the Government pilot urgent solutions to improve the visa policy and the competitiveness of Vietnam tourism according to Mr. Hoang Nhan Chinh, Head of The Secretariat of the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB). Specific was the visa policy adjustments such as increasing the visa exemption period from 15 days to 30 days for 12 countries, including Korea, Japan, Russia, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland; abolishing the regulations that “Each entry must be at least 30 days away from the last exit date from Vietnam”; extending the term of the visa exemption programs to 5 years; applying a 48 or 72-hour transit visa policy for passengers flying from Australia to Europe or vice versa and simplifying the application and approval process for visas at the border gate.

More open policies are needed to attract international visitors

‎In addition, the Tourism Advisory Board will also propose to the Government to improve the visa policy by adding six more visa-exempt countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium; adding countries that can apply to e-visa policies; upgrading the website and the speed of access; using short and easy-to-find domains such as evisa.gov.vn and publishing them widely. ‎

The private sector is committed to accompanying the government to widely inform the partner tourism businesses and visitors in countries where visa exemption and e-visa policies are applied and to make efforts to contribute to bringing the overall growth rate of tourism higher than 15% at the same time. Particularly for visa-exempt countries, there is an additional growth rate of 7-10%, contributing to bringing the export value per guest from US$830 today to US$1,000. ‎

‎The private sector also proposed an increase in government spending on tourism. Currently, the national budget for tourism promotion is just US$2 million or so, which is very low when compared to countries in the ASEAN region. Meanwhile, Indonesia has spent US$200 million, Malaysia US$105 million, and Singapore US$80 million on tourism promotion since 2016. Vietnam also does not have any national tourism promotion offices abroad. ‎

‎The Tourism Advisory Board said that the Government should soon establish a Tourism Development Assistance Fund to enhance resources for national tourism promotion activities in the future. At the same time, the National Tourism Promotion Council has been established to manage and operate the Fund on the basis of public-private cooperation. The council organizes the coordination between ministries and localities with tourist destinations in promoting Vietnam's tourism to key markets. There are financial regulations in order for businesses to be allowed to contribute funds without paying taxes. Tourism promotions should also have the focus and the main point concentrating on high-paying, long-staying, and stable markets. Vietnam's tourism promotion message should be clear, continuous, and focused on digital marketing to save costs and orient content. ‎

The Golden Bridge in Vietnam is an astonishing piece of art

‎Tourism enterprises committed from now to 2020 to contribute VND70 billion to the Tourism Development Assistance Fund, actively participate in Vietnam’s tourism promotion at important global tourism fairs, and develop tourism websites www.vietnamtourism.vn for the international visitor markets. ‎

On November 22, Board IV (Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform), representatives of the Private Economic Development Research Department, reported to the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Le Quang Tung on the preparation of the Vietnam Travel and Tourism Summit Forum 2018 in Hanoi. The Deputy Minister highly appreciated the initiative, positivity, and thoroughness in organizing the Forum of Board IV and hoped that the Forum will make a great impact, attract the world's leading investors to Vietnam, create motivation, and contribute to making Vietnam’s tourism a key economic sector.‎

Tags: Vietnam’s tourism, key economic sector, Vietnam tourism industry, international visitors, foreign tourists, Tourism Advisory Board, visa policy, Tourism Development Assistance Fund