Vietnam needs to spend US$20 million a year to lure foreign tourists
International researches showed that for each foreign traveler to spend more US$1,000 in his trip, the country has to invest US$1 to US$5 per visitor in tourism promotion.
To attract 20 million foreign holidaymakers to Vietnam by 2020, Vietnam needs to spend at least US$20 million on tourism promotion activities, said a representative from the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board (TAB).
International researches showed that for each foreign traveler to spend more US$1,000 in his trip, the country has to invest US$1 to US$5 per visitor in tourism promotion.
According to TAB’s representative Hoang Nhan Chinh, performing two functions at the same time, namely promotion and management, is two burdensome for the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
As Vietnam is projected to welcome some 18 million foreign visitors in 2019 and 20 million in 2020, the country should do more to reach the figures, especially in tourism promotion, Chinh said.
Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents Phung Quang Thang proposed establishing a council specializing in tourism promotion to harmonize promotion activities among the central administration, localities and industries like that of other countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, to avoid that the promotion investment becomes a waste.
So far, Vietnam tourism sector has only one representative office abroad. Thang said a network of multiple tourism promotion offices needs to be set up for market study and penetration. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore all have between 20 and 30 offices worldwide. In the Chinese and Japanese markets alone, Thailand even has four representative offices, Thang put an example.
Vietnam should also promote e-marketing which is low cost but effective and contemplate launching social network accounts in some targeted markets.
Recently, Vietnam has partnered with TikTok, a creative social media platform primarily driven by short-video to promote Vietnam’s tourism with diverse content generated by users.
In 2016, Forbes magazine estimated that Vietnam invested only US$2 million for tourism promotion, equivalent to 2.9% the figure of Thailand, 2.5% of Singapore and 1.9% of Malaysia.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Vietnam at the 80th position out of 136 countries in tourism promotion effectiveness. The rate is much lower than regional countries, after Laos (53rd) and Cambodia (73rd).
Hanoi to spend $4 million on CNN ads to reach global audience. Photo by Shutterstocks/Hoang Duy.
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According to TAB’s representative Hoang Nhan Chinh, performing two functions at the same time, namely promotion and management, is two burdensome for the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
As Vietnam is projected to welcome some 18 million foreign visitors in 2019 and 20 million in 2020, the country should do more to reach the figures, especially in tourism promotion, Chinh said.
Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents Phung Quang Thang proposed establishing a council specializing in tourism promotion to harmonize promotion activities among the central administration, localities and industries like that of other countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, to avoid that the promotion investment becomes a waste.
So far, Vietnam tourism sector has only one representative office abroad. Thang said a network of multiple tourism promotion offices needs to be set up for market study and penetration. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore all have between 20 and 30 offices worldwide. In the Chinese and Japanese markets alone, Thailand even has four representative offices, Thang put an example.
Vietnam should also promote e-marketing which is low cost but effective and contemplate launching social network accounts in some targeted markets.
Recently, Vietnam has partnered with TikTok, a creative social media platform primarily driven by short-video to promote Vietnam’s tourism with diverse content generated by users.
In 2016, Forbes magazine estimated that Vietnam invested only US$2 million for tourism promotion, equivalent to 2.9% the figure of Thailand, 2.5% of Singapore and 1.9% of Malaysia.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Vietnam at the 80th position out of 136 countries in tourism promotion effectiveness. The rate is much lower than regional countries, after Laos (53rd) and Cambodia (73rd).
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