According to a recent survey of the World Tourism Organisation, in 2006, Vietnam received about 3.8 million foreign tourists and had 17.5 million domestic travellers, an increase of 9.7 per cent compared to 2005, with turnover of about US$1.85 billion, accounting for 3.2 per cent of GDP. Average growth is expected to be 7.5 per cent in the 2007-2016 period. As of 2006, investors have pledged to invest US$5 billion in the tourism field with a series of large scale investment projects and luxury tourism resorts. However, the competitiveness of Vietnam’s tourism sector in general and tourism businesses in particular is still weak compared to other regional countries.
Master Ngo Duc Anh said that compared to other South-east Asian nations, although Vietnam offers competitive prices, some aspects are not as good as those of regional countries. In fact, Singapore is less competitive in term of the environment due to its high population density, but the country leads in other aspects. Meanwhile, the competitiveness of Thailand is better than Vietnam in many aspects, except for price and the environment. In terms of rooms, which account for a large amount of tourist spending, two main rivals of Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, offer prices more competitive than Vietnam.
After the successful organisation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting, Vietnam has a good chance to revitalise its international tourism market with the image of a safe, attractive and open place for visitors. However, the domestic tourism market is still small in terms of tourism revenue (accounting only 20 per cent of the total tourism revenue) and Vietnam’s tourism market share in the region is also small. Therefore, Vietnamese tourism businesses have to compete with big rivals in the region.
On basic infrastructure indices, measuring the length and quality of transportation, hygiene service, water supply and train, Vietnam loses to its regional competitors. Poor infrastructure is one reason tourists are satisfied with travel in the country. Due to limits of transportation, Vietnam’s infrastructure competitive index is low. This is a headache for Vietnam’s tourism because infrastructure improvement needs time and big investment.
In addition, as viewed by Mr Anh, Vietnam’s environmental factor and labour source play decisive roles in the country’s tourism competitiveness. According to surveys of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Vietnam does not have competitive advantages in terms of tourism sources compared to regional countries; Vietnam’s technological application in the sector is lower than regional countries, affecting Vietnam’s tourism sector’s ability to attract tourists.
Having become a WTO member, Vietnam has officially announced commitments to open the tourism service market. This will be an opportunity for Vietnam’s tourism development if State management agencies and businesses know to deal with the above mentioned weak points and bring into play their potential. However, Vietnam’s tourism strong points prevail with diverse natural resources, various landscapes, cultural historical relics and a large domestic tourism market with a population of 85 million. And finally, Vietnam is seen a safe and friendly destination.
Thu Huyen
Vietnamese
