Vietnam’s tourism sector is heavily reliant on international travel, which plunged last year. Photo: dulich.tuoitre.vn
Hanoi (VNA) – Although domestic tourism is rebounding, travel agencies still stress the need to open the border to tourists from certain countries to revive the “smoke-free industry”.
In a recently released report, the consulting firm McKinsey & Company said Vietnam’s tourism sector is heavily reliant on international travel, which plunged last year. International flights fell 80% in October 2020 compared to the same period last year.
The sharp drop in the number of foreign travelers has had a huge impact on tourism spending and the Vietnamese economy because they spend much more than their local counterparts.
In 2019 – the year in which the tourism industry accounted for 12% of the country’s GDP, international travelers made up only 17% of all tourists to Vietnam, but accounted for more than half of all tourism spending – with an average of 673 dollars per traveler compared to 61 dollars spent on average by domestic travelers.
According to the firm, the majority of Vietnamese international tourists come from Asia, including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan which account for around 80% of spending by foreign tourists in Vietnam.
Vietnam’s close economic ties with these countries could lead to a relatively rapid recovery of the tourism industry compared to other key tourist destinations in Europe and North America, he said. -VNA