The Vietnamese tourism sector will embark on a tourism recovery and development scheme under the 2022-23 socio-economic development programme this year.
It will also strive to complete the 10-year tourism system planning with a vision to 2045 and submit it to the Government for approval, develop smart tourism via digital transformation toward the goal of serving 65 million visitors, including 5 million foreigners, and earning VND400 trillion (US$17.39 billion) in revenue.
Data from the General Statistics Office this week showed that foreign arrivals in the country rose by 14.2 per week month-on-month in December as Viet Nam has been piloting the reopening of the country to foreigners since November and international commercial flights have been restored.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of foreign visitors to Viet Nam slumped by 95.9 per cent annually to 157,300, most of them were experts and technical workers working for projects in Viet Nam. Almost all tour guides became unemployed while the capacity of lodging facilities only reached about 5-10 per cent this year.
In the face of such challenges, the sector worked closely with ministries, agencies and localities to fulfil the dual goals of fighting the pandemic and restoring tourism. As a result, tourism activities in several localities, including Ha Noi, Da Nang, Lam Dong, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa, have begun to revive.
In November, the first foreign tourists arrived in Quang Nam, Phu Quoc and Khanh Hoa under a pilot programme to welcome them back after a long hiatus.
By late December, the country was expected to host 3,000 – 3,500 foreign visitors. A month later, more foreigners from the Republic of Korea, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand and India will arrive.
In 2021, Viet Nam was honoured as the “Leading destination in Asia”, the “Leading sustainable tourism destination in Asia”, the “Best golf destination in Asia and the world”, and the “Best yachting destination in Asia”. Its hotels, resorts, destinations, restaurants, tour agencies and airlines also won a number of awards.
The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism also earned the title of Asia's Leading Tourist Board 2021 by the World Travel Awards. — VNS