The luxury resorts built right on the beach are the first choice for visitors when visiting the beautiful coastal city of Da Nang. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Google and Singaporean sovereign fund Temasek haveforecast the Vietnamese online tourism services market to be worth 9 billionUSD by 2020, and said local companies should work quickly or risk losing themarket to international companies.
“Vietnam now has 47.7 million internet users,” Trinh Quang Chung, industrymanager of Google Asia Pacific, told Thoi bao Kinh doanh (Business Times)newspaper.
“Forty eight percent of tourists use their smart phones for booking rooms and42 percent for searching tourism information.”
The country’s online tourism services are dominated by international onlinetravel agents (OTAs) like Agoda.com, Booking.com, Traveloka.com, andTrivago.com.
Of the many services available online, air ticket and room booking wouldaccount for 85 percent of turnover by 2020, according to the forecast.
But now room booking is the most attractive and competitive segment, andAgoda.com and Booking.com are the strongest in it with 7,600 and 6,000 partnerhotels.
According to the Vietnam Electronic Commerce Association, the market share of onlineroom booking has increased sharply in recent years to 30 – 40 percent of totalbookings.
OTAs accounted for 15 – 20 percent of the total room booking turnover of 60trillion VND (2.63 billion USD) last year, with Agoda’s share being 4 trillionVND.
Leading international OTAs, with their deep pockets, can book a huge number ofrooms in good locations and with quality services for a full year to preparefor the peak season.
They also spend a lot of money on media and promotion campaigns, and have ahuge number of loyal customers because they offer good prices, discounts andease of payment.
“International tourists look for reputation, and Agoda and Booking have anadvantage over their local competitors,” Nguyen My Ngoc Chan, service managerat Alagon Hotel&Spa, said.
Hoang Thu Thuy of Cau Giay, Hanoi, said: “In the past I often booked roomsthrough Vietnamese websites, but I have started to use Traveloka.com because ofgood prices and ease of payment.”
To cope with the competition from their international rivals, domestic OTAslike Tugo.com.vn, Vntrip.vn, chudu24, iVivu, Gotadi, Triip.me, and Tripi haveincreased their investment and tie-ups with other service providers andupgraded their services to gain market share.
Vntrip.vn has received 3 million USD from two investment funds, Fenghe Groupand Hancock Revocable. Tugo.com.vn achieved a turnover of 5 million USD lastyear and hopes to serve 100,000 customers this year.
Domestic OTAs may not be able to match their foreign rivals in resources orexperience, but have the advantage of understanding local customers’ needs andhaving good relations with service providers like hotels and guesthouses.
“Domestic OTAs could take advantage of the country’s 90 million population togrow,” Nguyen Minh Bao, co-founder of Tugo.com.vn, said.
“Vietnam now has 47.7 million internet users,” Trinh Quang Chung, industrymanager of Google Asia Pacific, told Thoi bao Kinh doanh (Business Times)newspaper.
“Forty eight percent of tourists use their smart phones for booking rooms and42 percent for searching tourism information.”
The country’s online tourism services are dominated by international onlinetravel agents (OTAs) like Agoda.com, Booking.com, Traveloka.com, andTrivago.com.
Of the many services available online, air ticket and room booking wouldaccount for 85 percent of turnover by 2020, according to the forecast.
But now room booking is the most attractive and competitive segment, andAgoda.com and Booking.com are the strongest in it with 7,600 and 6,000 partnerhotels.
According to the Vietnam Electronic Commerce Association, the market share of onlineroom booking has increased sharply in recent years to 30 – 40 percent of totalbookings.
OTAs accounted for 15 – 20 percent of the total room booking turnover of 60trillion VND (2.63 billion USD) last year, with Agoda’s share being 4 trillionVND.
Leading international OTAs, with their deep pockets, can book a huge number ofrooms in good locations and with quality services for a full year to preparefor the peak season.
They also spend a lot of money on media and promotion campaigns, and have ahuge number of loyal customers because they offer good prices, discounts andease of payment.
“International tourists look for reputation, and Agoda and Booking have anadvantage over their local competitors,” Nguyen My Ngoc Chan, service managerat Alagon Hotel&Spa, said.
Hoang Thu Thuy of Cau Giay, Hanoi, said: “In the past I often booked roomsthrough Vietnamese websites, but I have started to use Traveloka.com because ofgood prices and ease of payment.”
To cope with the competition from their international rivals, domestic OTAslike Tugo.com.vn, Vntrip.vn, chudu24, iVivu, Gotadi, Triip.me, and Tripi haveincreased their investment and tie-ups with other service providers andupgraded their services to gain market share.
Vntrip.vn has received 3 million USD from two investment funds, Fenghe Groupand Hancock Revocable. Tugo.com.vn achieved a turnover of 5 million USD lastyear and hopes to serve 100,000 customers this year.
Domestic OTAs may not be able to match their foreign rivals in resources orexperience, but have the advantage of understanding local customers’ needs andhaving good relations with service providers like hotels and guesthouses.
“Domestic OTAs could take advantage of the country’s 90 million population togrow,” Nguyen Minh Bao, co-founder of Tugo.com.vn, said.
But to take dominate the market, Vietnamese enterprises need to fix theirtechnological shortcomings.
“Most Vietnamese websites do not meet the needs of customers,” Ha Lam Tu Quynh,public relations manager of Google Asia Pacific, said.
“Most Vietnamese websites do not meet the needs of customers,” Ha Lam Tu Quynh,public relations manager of Google Asia Pacific, said.
“Most people exit a website if they have to wait over three seconds, butVietnamese tourism websites take 8 – 10 seconds.
“A good mobile website’s version must meet the requirements of high speed andease of use.”
Chung agreed, saying: “In the digital era, tourism companies which don’t have amobile version of their website or a slow mobile version will lose theiropportunities to competitors.
“A good mobile version will help them find customers around the world at lowcost.”
In 2016 Vietnamese tourism operators served 10 million foreigners, an increaseof 25 percent from the previous year.
The hotel industry’s turnover topped a record 15 billion USD and the tourismindustry accounted for 6.6 percent of GDP.
This year the industry targets a 10 percent share.-VNS/VNA
“A good mobile website’s version must meet the requirements of high speed andease of use.”
Chung agreed, saying: “In the digital era, tourism companies which don’t have amobile version of their website or a slow mobile version will lose theiropportunities to competitors.
“A good mobile version will help them find customers around the world at lowcost.”
In 2016 Vietnamese tourism operators served 10 million foreigners, an increaseof 25 percent from the previous year.
The hotel industry’s turnover topped a record 15 billion USD and the tourismindustry accounted for 6.6 percent of GDP.
This year the industry targets a 10 percent share.-VNS/VNA
VNA
