Vietnam’s travel suffers decline

HANOI  Vietnam National Administration of Tourism estimates the country welcomed 576,868 international travellers in May representing a decline of 14.4% over the same month last year.
Thailand’s outbound trips to Vietnam slipped off the list of top 10 source markets in May recording 14,155 visits down 47.9% on the same month of last year.
This is not surprising as May heralds new school terms and heavy expenses for families, who are already low travel spenders when compared to other ASEAN nationalities.
Thailand’s outbound market under performs and is a low priority for most countries seeking a slice of ASEAN’s outbound travel market. It represents a paltry 4 million overseas trips annually out of a population of 67.2 million.
inside no 4 The top destinations for Thais are Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and China.
China continued to top Vietnam’s top source markets with 163,195 visits, but was still down 15.9% on May last year. Other top performers were South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States.
Neighbouring Cambodia also slipped off the top 10 sources posting 10,627 trips a decline 71.6%. Most of the visits are overland traders, who cross the border for short business trips in adjourning provinces.
All of the country’s top markets are in the Asia/Pacific region with the exception of the US (fifth), Russia (seventh), and France (ninth). These three country markets are reasonably consistent figuring in the top 10 every year.
The bulk of arrivals in May (458,758) passed through the two main aviation gateways Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
For January to May this year, the country welcomed 3,275,191 international tourists down 12.6% during the same period last year.
Vietnam’s tourist arrivals have been in decline since last year. Travel industry sources blame it on rising prices, a lack of new products and stiff competition from other neighbouring destinations.
The country is not a top spender on promotions, either to consumers or trade, other investing in attendance at a few key trade shows. It has also been losing traction in China, where a decline in bookings to Vietnam was was sparked by anti-Chinese sentiments in 2014.
VNAT updated its data on its website, Monday, sourced from the government statistics office.
Top 10 main markets for Vietnam tourism May 2015inside-no-4.1

sourced:ttrweekly.com