Vietnam Tourism in Risk of Losing Position in ASEAN Top-five

Vietnam’s tourism industry is in danger of falling behind Cambodia and losing its top-five ranking among ASEAN countries, as the tourism sector has developed ploddingly during recent years, analysts warned.

In fact, the industry has yet effectively tapped its full potential; meanwhile, Cambodia has made great breakthroughs in its tourism industry.

With concrete strategies and effective operation, Cambodia’s tourism sector has grown steadily and may exceed Vietnam’s and usurp its position among ASEAN nations.

Vietnam’s overall tourism competitiveness ranking is still lower than other regional countries. In 2008, the country’s tourism competitiveness ranking dropped from 87th to 96th place.

Though the hospitality industry has obtained achievements and made great contributions to the country’s economic development, the sector has not grown further in recent years due to its failure to keep customers.

The government should take proper measures to effectively carry out tourism promotion programs, upgrade infrastructure and diversify tourism products to attract more foreign travelers, analysts noted.

The Tourism Association should also intervene by calling upon its members to boycott and not take visitors to overpriced luxury restaurants and hotels, they added.

International visitors to Vietnam are estimated to increase by 32% from a year earlier to 2.5 million in the first half of 2010. The country aims to welcome between 4.5 million and 4.6 million foreign travelers and earn tourism revenues of between US$4 billion and US$4.5 billion this year.

Tags: Vietnam Tourism