Double-decker buses take tourists around HCM City's downtown streets. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Visa, the world’s leading digitalpayment service provider, has reported great pent-up appetite for travel amongVietnamese in its Voice of the Consumer survey, which found that as many as 76percent of respondents are planning to travel for leisure within the country,far higher than the 38 percent planning overseas trips.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on allaspects of travel, with health and safety dominant in all considerations, fromdestination to means of transport.
Travel plans hinge predominantly on how the pandemic playsout, as the COVID-19 situation accounts for the top 3 factors that will makeone feel comfortable to travel. The stability of the COVID-19 situation at thedestination was the top factor for 63 percent of respondents, followed by beingvaccinated (48 percent) and global cases going down (40 percent).
“Domestic destinations fit better for most Vietnamese travellers,with strong preference for weekend getaways and short holidays,” said DangTuyet Dung, Country Manager for Visa Vietnam and Laos. “Almost twice as manyVietnamese travellers opt to travel domestically, to places that can bestaccommodate their new priorities.”
“Businesses can capitalise on these trends by ensuringsafety and comfort in all aspect of their offerings, including payments. Thepandemic has spurred digital and contactless payment adoption among allconsumer groups and made it a basic expectation,” she suggested.
Despite the benefits they could bring through the controlledreopening of borders and industries, travel bubbles elicit only moderateinterest among Vietnamese respondents with 52 percent saying they were keen totravel within a bubble but not in the immediate future. As a particularconsequence of the pandemic, people are rediscovering their immediatesurroundings, giving rise to the growing trend of staycation – vacations intheir own city. Around a third of respondents said they would be planning,booking or having a staycation as soon as possible if there were no longer anygovernment restrictions. Thirty percent would also visit local attractions.
Since the pandemic, Vietnamese travellers have had to calloff travel plans and had to find alternative outlets for their wanderlust.Accordingly, there has been a spike in online travel as Vietnamese travellersviewed more travel-related photos and videos, filling out their bucket lists.More than half (53 percent) of respondents watched YouTube travel videos and 40percent took to travel sites on social media as an alternative, and as many as38 percent took a virtual tour online.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to new and excitingtrends, and the biggest changes were experienced in the travel industry,” said Dung.“It will remain the central theme for the travel industry. Success and failurewill ride on how well businesses can accommodate travelers’ pandemic-relatedneeds and wants.”/.
