Although tourism is one of the key economic sectors that bring in alarge amount of foreign currency to the country, each year, the lack ofunique organised tours means the sector is losing out on opportunitiesto develop.
According to the Vietnam NationalAdministration of Tourism (VNAT), the tourism sector has developed wellover the last few years, with international arrivals to the countryreaching 3.8 million in 2009, a 15-fold increase compared to 1990 andpeaking 4.3 million in 2008.
Last year, althoughthe number of international visitors to Vietnam fell by 10 percentfrom the previous year, the amount of foreign currency directly earnedfrom tourism still amounted to almost 4 billion USD, after garments,crude oil, footwear and seafood.
In the firstmonths of 2010, when global tourism was still trying to weather theimpact of the world’s economic crisis, many Asia-Pacific countries,including Vietnam , remained attractive to international tourists.With a growth rate of more than 30 percent over this period, the WorldTourism Organisation ranked Vietnam fourth in tourism growth in theAsia-Pacific region, after Sri Lanka , Arab Saudi and Israel .
In the 2009 report on Travel & TourismCompetitiveness (TTC) announced by the World Economic Forum, Vietnamranked 11 th out of 133 countries and territories for havingcompetitive prices. This is why many people from overseas are attractedto Vietnam .
In addition, Vietnam has a lotof potential for developing its tourist industry and has also attracteda lot of foreign investors. In 2009 alone, FDI capital into the tourismsector reached 8.8 billion USD, accounting for 41 percent of thecountry’s total FDI that year.
Besides itsmaterial contributions to the national economy, the development of thesector has helped with the country’s economic restructuring, reducedpoverty and generated jobs as well revitalised many traditional craftvillages.
According to Vietnam ’s HumanResources Development Programme, the tourism sector annually createsmillions of job opportunities for workers. During the 1991-2009 period,the amount of people working directly in the sector increased by nearly20 times from 21,000 to 370,000.
Despite anaverage growth of close to 17 percent during the same period, a lack ofcompetitiveness remains the largest obstacle for Vietnamese tourism,especially at a time when ASEAN nations are paying more attention todeveloping their own tourist industries, considering it a major factorfor economic growth.
Among the ASEAN countriessurveyed in the TTC report, minus Laos and Myanmar , Vietnam onlyranks above Cambodia in tourism development. However, with itsspecific strategies and effective operations, Cambodia ’s tourismsector is becoming stronger and is likely to overtake Vietnam .
According to experts, low competitiveness comes from thefact that Vietnamese tourism does not concentrate on unique productsand its services are simple and low quality. The sector does not have aoverall development plan, which has resulted in a low rate of long-staytourists.
In addition, not having a policy ofrefunding value added tax (VAT) for international tourists to encouragethem to spend, as Thailand and Singapore have done, has also madeVietnamese tourism difficult to promote.
At arecent national seminar entitled “developing Vietnamese tourism in thecontext of international integration” in Hanoi , a number of measureswere discussed with a focus on developing special tourism products,promotions and improving the country’s infrastructure and humanresources.
The tourism sector has targetedwelcoming 4.5 million international visitors in 2010, up 16 percentagainst last year./.
According to the Vietnam NationalAdministration of Tourism (VNAT), the tourism sector has developed wellover the last few years, with international arrivals to the countryreaching 3.8 million in 2009, a 15-fold increase compared to 1990 andpeaking 4.3 million in 2008.
Last year, althoughthe number of international visitors to Vietnam fell by 10 percentfrom the previous year, the amount of foreign currency directly earnedfrom tourism still amounted to almost 4 billion USD, after garments,crude oil, footwear and seafood.
In the firstmonths of 2010, when global tourism was still trying to weather theimpact of the world’s economic crisis, many Asia-Pacific countries,including Vietnam , remained attractive to international tourists.With a growth rate of more than 30 percent over this period, the WorldTourism Organisation ranked Vietnam fourth in tourism growth in theAsia-Pacific region, after Sri Lanka , Arab Saudi and Israel .
In the 2009 report on Travel & TourismCompetitiveness (TTC) announced by the World Economic Forum, Vietnamranked 11 th out of 133 countries and territories for havingcompetitive prices. This is why many people from overseas are attractedto Vietnam .
In addition, Vietnam has a lotof potential for developing its tourist industry and has also attracteda lot of foreign investors. In 2009 alone, FDI capital into the tourismsector reached 8.8 billion USD, accounting for 41 percent of thecountry’s total FDI that year.
Besides itsmaterial contributions to the national economy, the development of thesector has helped with the country’s economic restructuring, reducedpoverty and generated jobs as well revitalised many traditional craftvillages.
According to Vietnam ’s HumanResources Development Programme, the tourism sector annually createsmillions of job opportunities for workers. During the 1991-2009 period,the amount of people working directly in the sector increased by nearly20 times from 21,000 to 370,000.
Despite anaverage growth of close to 17 percent during the same period, a lack ofcompetitiveness remains the largest obstacle for Vietnamese tourism,especially at a time when ASEAN nations are paying more attention todeveloping their own tourist industries, considering it a major factorfor economic growth.
Among the ASEAN countriessurveyed in the TTC report, minus Laos and Myanmar , Vietnam onlyranks above Cambodia in tourism development. However, with itsspecific strategies and effective operations, Cambodia ’s tourismsector is becoming stronger and is likely to overtake Vietnam .
According to experts, low competitiveness comes from thefact that Vietnamese tourism does not concentrate on unique productsand its services are simple and low quality. The sector does not have aoverall development plan, which has resulted in a low rate of long-staytourists.
In addition, not having a policy ofrefunding value added tax (VAT) for international tourists to encouragethem to spend, as Thailand and Singapore have done, has also madeVietnamese tourism difficult to promote.
At arecent national seminar entitled “developing Vietnamese tourism in thecontext of international integration” in Hanoi , a number of measureswere discussed with a focus on developing special tourism products,promotions and improving the country’s infrastructure and humanresources.
The tourism sector has targetedwelcoming 4.5 million international visitors in 2010, up 16 percentagainst last year./.
