Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang told Hanoimoi Newspaper about the city's plans to attract tourists this summer and its long-term tourism promotion strategy.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang. Photo: Hanoimoi newspaper

In the first six months of 2023, the total number of tourists to Hanoi is estimated at 12.33 million, up 42% from last year. Among them, international tourists were 2.03 million, seven times higher than the same period last year. The city's tourism revenue was estimated at VND44.9 trillion (US$1.9 billion), up 74.3% year-on-year.

The first half of tourism revenue met more than 50% of the full year's target, while international arrivals are expected to meet 75% of the annual target.

Compared to the same period in 2019 (before the Covid-19 pandemic), the number of domestic tourists was equal to 95% of that in 2019, and the total revenue was about 90% of 2019. 

Notably, the city continues to receive high ratings from reputable travel magazines and media outlets for its tourism attractiveness in 2023, signaling the city's rapid recovery and development of tourism in the context of declining global trade.

What does Hanoi tourism expect this summer?

Hanoi tourism expects to welcome about 6.8 million arrivals, including 5.7 million domestic visitors (up 6% year-on-year) and 1.1 million international tourists (up 2.5 times).

Phung Hung mural street is one of the check-in destinations for visitors to Hanoi. Photo: Cong Hung/The Hanoi Times

Summer is the peak season for Vietnam's tourism industry, with many vacationers traveling to coastal destinations. However, Summer seems to be a low season in Hanoi. What are the advantages for the city to attract visitors in summer?

The difference between seasons in Hanoi is not significant. Hanoi attracts different segments of visitors by unique tourism products and attractive destinations in four seasons. Each season, the city offers distinct products for international and domestic visitors to experience, explore and learn about, such as cultural tourism, eco-tourism, resort tourism, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), and golf tourism. These are the unique advantages of the city.

Statistics show that in 2019, the number of domestic visitors during the peak summer months of June, July and August was 25-35% higher than the rest of the year. In 2022 (after Covid-19), the figure increased by 15-20% compared to other months of the year. These figures proved the competitive advantages of the city.

How will Hanoi do to attract more visitors during the Summer months?

We have developed both short-term and long-term strategies. For the short-term strategy, the tourism industry will focus on developing high-quality and differentiated products, emphasizing cultural and experiential tourism, resort, night, and sports tourism.

The tourism industry will strengthen its promotion and advertising strategies, targeting specific groups such as families, visitors from southern region, and Southeast Asian countries.

For the long-term strategy, Hanoi will focus on restructuring and ensuring comprehensive and sustainable development. This includes prioritizing the progress of specialty parks, luxury resorts, and shopping mall projects while enhancing human resource training to meet the demands of year-round tourism.

Local visitors enjoy experiences at the Duong Lam Ancient Village outside Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Ha/The Hanoi Times

Given the diversity of Hanoi's strengths and products, which key products should the tourism industry focus on?

The city's tourism will focus on several key product groups to create its highlights.

Accordingly, we will prioritize the development of cultural tourism products. In addition to assisting tourism sites in building experiential tourism products and night tours of cultural heritage sites and monuments, the industry will also develop experiential add-on services, such as new river tourism routes connecting craft villages and cultural heritage sites, and expanding the double-decker bus route linking downtown and suburban destinations.

Building weekend resort tourism and homestay will be another focus of the city's tourism industry.

Apart from those, Hanoi will develop sports tourism products linked to the values of the city's natural resources (mountains, rivers and lakes), including mountain climbing and cycling in the outlying districts of Soc Son and Ba Vi, adventure sports such as zip-lining and hot air ballooning, and archery in Long Bien, Ba Vi and Soc Son districts.

Promoting the combination of golf and MICE tourism is an essential solution. We will work with the Golf Tourism Association and tourism service providers to build and develop one or two professional golf tour products and itineraries at competitive prices.

To attract tourists to Hanoi all year round, what should Hanoi do to innovate promotion?

We focus on creating specific promotion and marketing plans for each market and target visitor.

We will have a separate promotion strategy for each market segment, including golf tourism, sports tourism, and resort tourism for the Northeast Asian market; cultural tourism, night tourism, and culinary tourism for North American and European travelers; and shopping tourism, festival tourism, and eco-tourism for domestic visitors.

To best reach each segment, we will develop a detailed plan to hold promotional events and travel fairs throughout the year, rather than focusing on specific periods.

Furthermore, the industry will prioritize digital transformation in advertising destinations, implement promotion campaigns on the city's information portal and social media platforms, and launch promotion programs at major international travel fairs.

Thank you for your time!