In the fierce race to gain market share in tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic, improving its competitive advantage to attract quality tourists, Vietnam’s tourism sector should promote all its advantages to speed up recovery and create breakthrough developments.

Visitors to Tien Tien Farm and Zoo in Ninh Thuan Province.

According to data from the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, in the first six months of 2023, the country received nearly 5.6 million international visitors (achieving 69% of the year’s plan) and served about 64 million domestic tourists, earning 343.1 trillion VND (over 14.5 billion USD). Although it is not possible to regain the same growth momentum as before the COVID-19 pandemic, these figures are enough to light up confidence in the recovery and development of the green economy in the near future.

However, experts say that in order to make great strides commensurate with its potential, Vietnam's tourism industry still needs to make greater efforts to overcome some existing limitations.

According to Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet, these limitations include the lack of breakthroughs in the legal corridor for investment attraction into tourism development and the non-diversity of tourism products that have not brought into play the inherent values of our natural resources and humanity. In addition, services such as accommodation, trade and transportation have not yet formed a connecting and sharing economic ecosystem. The activities of promoting Vietnam's tourism domestically and internationally are still limited; digital transformation in tourism has not kept pace with the development requirements of the industry; and there are not many high-quality human resources.

Therefore, to create momentum to help tourism conquer challenges and accelerate development, the Government has issued Resolution No. 82/NQ-CP dated May 18, 2023 on key tasks and solutions to boost recovery and speed up effective and sustainable tourism development.

The resolution sets out seven key groups of tasks and solutions including accelerating the restructuring of the tourism industry towards professionalism, modernity, quality and sustainability; continuing to create favorable conditions to attract international tourists to Vietnam; increasing investment attraction into tourism development with a focus on national tourist areas; developing products and improving the communications and tourism promotion activities; supporting tourism businesses; raising the quality of human resources; boosting the implementation of digital transformation and entrepreneurship and innovation in tourism. Not only showing the Party and State's responsible and drastic attention and companionship in tourism development, the Resolution is also considered an important step towards implementing Resolution No.08-NQ./TW of the Politburo on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector.

Along with Resolution No.82/NQ-CP, the National Assembly has recently approved the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese citizens and the Law on Foreigners’ Entry into, Exit from, Transit through, and Residence in Vietnam. As a result, the law features more open regulations such as extending the duration of e-visa from 30 days to 90 days with the validity of multiple entry and increasing temporary residence issued at the border gate for people entering the country under the visa exemption categories from 15 days to 45 days. The law will take effect on August 15, 2023, when the country prepares to enter its peak season of international tourism. People who are working in the tourism industry are deeply aware that these are great and valuable opportunities to help improve the position and competitiveness of Vietnam's tourism. The problem is how to take advantage of this opportunity to gain more effectiveness.

Director of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh said new adjustments to the visa policy, which has created favourable conditions for international visitors to enter Vietnam, are what the tourism industry has been looking forward to for many years. However, this is only a necessary condition, but the more important factor for Vietnam's tourism to be more attractive and create a stronger attraction for international markets is a series of more synchronous solutions such as building and renewing products in a longer-term direction to meet the needs of markets with high affordability and long-stay customers, professionalising tourism promotion activities, and improving the efficiency of the management of destinations, and developing high-quality human resources.

Sharing the same opinion, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said the new policy will create easy conditions for international visitors to Vietnam. However, to become a luxury tourism market towards welcoming high-quality guests, it is crucial to make clear policies and high determination, in which the tourism business community is the leading force.

Binh also especially emphasised the role of promoting links in tourism to create unique tourism products with competitive prices. Along with the investment in the renewal of products, Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, said that it is necessary to quickly change the method of destination management in a more professional and thorough manner. In addition, it is essential to focus on investment in in developing the night economy and making a strategy to position Vietnam's tourism brand in an attractive, unique and new manner.

To promote the spirit of innovation, creativity and the driving role of businesses in the implementation of Resolution No. 82/NQ-CP of the Government as well as seizing opportunities from the open visa policy, the Vietnam Tourism Association has issued a specific action plan with eight groups of key tasks and solutions including: restructuring businesses, innovating business models associated with digital transformation, restructuring the human resource system towards compactness, professionalism, modernity, quality and sustainability; developing tourism products suitable for the new period such as MICE tourism, sports tourism, healthcare tourism, shopping tourism, culinary tourism, cultural tourism, eco-tourism, community-based tourism agricultural and rural tourism and adventure tourism; diversifying the tourism market; stepping up tourism promotion activities; developing human resources to meet the requirements of the new development stage; strengthening links in tourism business; promoting digital transformation in tourism businesses; detecting and collecting opinions and making proposals to the competent state agencies to solve the difficulties and problems of tourism enterprises.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also issued a Decision to issue an Action Plan to implement Resolution No. 82/NQ-CP, with eight tasks to be chaired by the Ministry and 10 tasks to be implemented by the Ministry in coordination with other relevant ministries and agencies.

It is hoped that with the high consensus in the awareness and actions of the entire tourism sector and related industries, Vietnam's tourism will quickly make breakthroughs and develop according to the motto of “unique products – professional services - Convenient and simple procedures - Competitive prices - Clean and beautiful hygienic environment – a Safe, civilised, friendly destination”. As a result, tourism will truly become a spearhead economic sector, bringing Vietnam into the group of 30 leading tourism hubs of the world.

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