Happy news for Vietnamese tourism. According to the latest announcement on 17 September by ASEAN Stats, Vietnam is the destination of new millennium and has rapid increase in past decades with average growth of 9.8%/per year.
Vietnam currently ranks the 4th in ASEAN region in attracting international tourists with increasing number of tourists from ASEAN countries.
Based on the report of ASEAN community in 2012 and yearbook of General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the number of international tourists to Vietnam reached only 2.13 million tourists in 2000 and increased over 6 million tourists ( 2.8 times ) in 2011.
During the developing progress, the number of tourists decreased in 2009 only due to influence of finance crisis and global economic downturn. However, Vietnam’s tourism sector recovered quickly beyond expectation in 2012, adding 2 figures (33.9%), highest in the region.
According to the survey, the choice to Vietnam of every single group of tourists is quite different. While the number of non-ASEAN tourists to Vietnam makes up majority (approximately 88% out of total number of tourists), tourists from ASEAN countries account for 12% only.
Considering individual groups, Vietnam is the 4th option of non-ASEAN tourists, following Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Experiencing 12 years, Vietnam surpassed Indonesia in the number of non-ASEAN tourists in 2011 with 4.7 million arrivals while Indonesia welcomed nearly 4.4 million arrivals.
The report also pointed out in terms of economy, tourists’ expenditure in Vietnam in 2011 accounted for 4.5% GDP and 63.3% revenue of service export. Tourism export occupied 65.7 % of total service export.
In period of 2005-2011, tourism industry always exported surplus and peaked in 2011 with SUD 4 million. Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam’s tourism export is listed in average group together with Indonesia and Philippines. However, Vietnam’s tourism revenue is affected a lot because Vietnam has to rent vehicles from foreign countries.
ASEAN Stats judged that satisfactory results of Vietnam’s tourism were due to advantages such as rich landscapes, diverse culture, security, and attractive price. According to ACPMS 2012, consumer price of Vietnam in accordance with consumer power is recorded rises lowest in the region. This is a key factor attracting tourists to Vietnam.
However, ASEAN Stats also released some assessments that we need take into consideration. They include: the weakness of tourism infrastructure and quality of service and management. Vietnam need a a lot of attempt and time to shorten development gap of tourism with nations in the region such as Malaysia, Thailand. Thereby, Vietnam’s tourism will really become a key industry./.
The statistics of ASEAN Stats proved the promotion of tourism industry in Vietnam in recent years. It is the stimulation for Vietnam to keep moving forward and draw more and more international tourists to Vietnam.