Foreign tourists visit Ho Chi Minh City's Post Office. (Photo: VNA) According to the city’s businesses, more Chinese touristgroups will arrive in the city this month and April will be the peak time marking the return of Chinese tourists to Vietnam.
On the contrary, the number of Vietnamese tourists booking toursto China will also increase, helping to stimulate demand in thetourism markets of the two countries in the coming time.
The forecast is based on the huge tourism demand of Chinesetourists after about three years of disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic andVietnam being one of the Chinese tourists’ favourite destinations.
In addition, Vietnamese businesses have developed high-qualityand oriented products and services for specific tourist segments.
Accompanying the businesscommunity, the city’s Department of Tourism has just coordinated with theZhangjiajie city People's Committee in China’s Hunan province and the VietnamGlobal International Travel Group Joint Stock Company to organise a tourismpromotion conference in Zhangjiajie city.
Wang Tao, Vice Chairman of the Zhangjiajie City People’sCommittee, said that tourism promotion activities are important at this time.
Zhangjiajie city is home to a world natural heritage, aworld geopark, a national park, ancient cultural works, and modernarchitecture that attract tourists in recent times.
Zhangjiajie city's government hopes that tourism andcultural promotion events will promote the exchange of tourist delegations betweenVietnam and China, thereby restoring the "smokeless industries" of both countries.
Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, Deputy Director of the HCM City Department ofTourism, emphasised that China is one of the key markets for the city's tourism industry.Before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, China ranked third among the sources of internationalvisitors to HCM City, with 1.2 million arrivals in 2019, accounting for20% of the total number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam.
Particularly, in the first three months of 2023, the number of Chinese touriststo HCM City reached about 49,000.
Meanwhile, following China’s decision to reopen tourism, theConsulate General of China in HCM City started accepting touristvisa applications for both group and individual tourists.
Travelers to China are required to show a certificate of twodoses of COVID-19 vaccine and rapid testing before departure.
Currently, international travelers to Zhangjiajie city are stillrequired to take COVID-19 rapid tests. Upon entering China, internationaltravelers continue to be randomly selected for rapid testing. Some travelcompanies have suggested Chinese agencies soon remove barriers related toCOVID-19 rapid testing and creating favourable conditions in terms of visa policy so thatforeign tourists conveniently travel to the country.
Vietnam received 1.8 million foreign tourist arrivals in the firsttwo months of 2023. With China now resuming outbound tours, the country isexpected to exceed the target of welcoming 8 million foreign travelers thisyear./.
