Tourism: An On-site Export

One of the most useful methods to introduce the country’s image to the world is to help foreigners arriving in Vietnam see the cultural, historical heritage, beauty spots, local people and changes in the country with their own eyes.

This is the form of "on-site exports", in which foreigners have to spend money during their stay in Vietnam. This will help the country receive a large amount of foreign currency, improving the general payment balance and creating more jobs for local workers.

Meanwhile, Vietnam now has many advantages to attract international tourists as follows:

Its advantages are in its historical and cultural heritage, beautiful scenery, friendly local people, globally acknowledged beauty spots and a rich historical heritage.

Advantages in social and economic reform and radical achievements have been appreciated by the world.

Another advantage is its stability in politics, social order, security and the government’s open policies in recent years

There is a big difference in the VND/USD exchange rate with the equivalent purchasing power of the U.S. dollar (one dollar in Vietnam has equivalent purchasing power to 3 or 4 U.S. dollar in the U.S.).

With these advantages, Vietnam received up to 2.6 million international arrivals in the first seven months of this year, up 6.6 percent on year, the highest number so far.

During the seven months, more than 10,000 international arrivals from 26 countries and territories came to Vietnam, mostly from China, South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Thailand, France and Malaysia.

Some countries and territories had a higher on-year growth of tourists to Vietnam than the common rate, such as Finland, the Philippines, Norway, Thailand, Singapore, Sweden, Malaysia, Russia, Hong Kong, Netherlands and Denmark.

So, international tourists coming to Vietnam from different countries are from various income levels, not only from neighbouring nations and those with medium incomes.

According to the preliminary statistics, the total spending of international arrivals to Vietnam estimated at US$1.95 billion in the first six months, accounting for 56.7 percent of total service export value and increasing 14 percent against last year.

The figure proved that average spending of foreign visitors in Vietnam was 5.5 percent higher than the same period last year.

In terms of arrival purpose, the number of working tourists, although making up 19.3 percent of total number, rose by 38.4 percent, proving that the number of arrivals for the purpose of investment and trading sharply increased.

The number of arrivals for travelling, though rising by only 3.1 percent, accounted for the highest proportion of 60.2 percent. There are 348,800 arrivals to visit their relatives, down 3 percent on year, but June saw a sharp increase.

In terms of means of travel, arrivals by air accounted for the highest proportion, followed by those by roadway and seaway. Based on these figures, Vietnam may receive over 4.5 million international arrivals this year, earning US$4 billion in foreign currency, double the amount of ODA capital disbursed.

However, the number of international tourists to Vietnam tends to decrease between February and June (with only 441,000 tourists in February, nearly 425,000 in March, 411,000 in April, 382,000 in May, and nearly 320,000 in June). The first reason is it is not the tourist season. On the other hand, the number of tourists from some countries fell.

Compared with other countries and territories, the average rate of international arrivals per Vietnamese people is still low, with every 100 local people receiving five tourists, much lower than many other nations and territories with a rate of up to 200 - 300 tourists/capita.