A couple of months ago I was exhibiting at ITB Asia in Singapore, the region’s biggest travel industry trade show, and the buzz from overseas agents about Vietnam was palpable. Whether it was agents looking to start selling Vietnam as a destination, or established Vietnam experts looking for new partners and products, it seemed like everyone, particularly Australians & Central/Eastern Europeans, wanted a bit of hot Vietnamese action.
And they’re not alone. Vietnam’s foreign visitor numbers hit 5 million this week, against just 3.8 million for 2009. Admittedly these figures are skewed by business travellers and a dramatic increase in expat visa runs caused by this year’s visa crackdown, but nevertheless, any hotelier or tour operator will tell you 2010 has been a surprisingly good year, with 2011 looking even more promising thanks to newly-introduced direct flights from such places as Paris, Warsaw and Vladivostok.
Vietnam’s tourism market is poised to explode, with only three things holding it back. Firstly, there’s the visa situation. I can show up in Cambodia, Thailand or Laos on the spur of the moment and get a visa on arrival. In Vietnam, I can’t. Even the “visa on arrival” in HCMC & Hanoi requires tourists to apply for an authorisation letter in advance, deterring short break tourists and repeat visitors. Certain markets – Russia, Scandinavia, Japan for example – have been given exemptions for 15-day stays and visitor numbers have increased as a result. Extending this policy to certain key markets such as Australia, France, UK & USA would see spectacular results in no time.
Secondly, Vietnam’s tourism marketing is hamstrung by low budgets, a lack of creativity, an unwillingness to outsource the job to marketing experts, and an old-fashioned obsession with cultural tourism. Neighbours such as Thailand and Malaysia have created fantastic, memorable marketing campaigns which, gasp, show foreign visitors having a good time. Vietnam’s marketing suggests little more than a dour boot camp in Vietnamese culture. Also, cultural tourists only tend to visit a destination once, and then cross it off the list. Target holidaymakers and you’ll see an increase in new and return visitors. Vietnam’s tourism market is also pretty unresponsive – Thailand responded to its political problems earlier this year with a marketing charm offensive to limit the damages to its tourism industry; Vietnam, despite being perfectly positioned to capitalise on Thailand’s misfortune, did nothing.
And finally, a quick perusal of the Vietnam forums on Tripadvisor will show you that Vietnam has a very poor reputation amongst tourists for scams, rip-offs and hassle. And it starts at the airports – trying to find an honest taxi driver at Tan Son Nhat is hard enough for locals and expats; it’s next to impossible for wide-eyed first-time tourists. The scamming is the main factor in keeping Vietnam’s return visitor rate in single figures (around 5% at the last count), while Thailand boasts a return rate of nearly 50%.
These three barriers to success are all easy to fix – 15-day visa exemptions for key markets, placing Vietnam’s destination marketing in the hands of experts (ideally those same experts who have worked on successful campaigns for the likes of Malaysia or Singapore), and an organised taxi queuing system at international airports (such as the one at Bangkok’s main airport) – provided the will is there. And if/when they are fixed, Vietnam’s tourism industry will finally sprout wings and take off.
This article originally appeared in the December 2010 issue of The Word
Tourist in Saigon
