Le Hong Tu, CEO of BT Tour, revealed that his firm would receive a group of 16 Chinese travelers from Shanghai at Tan Son Nhat Airport, HCM City on March 16, 2023. This is the first official group of Chinese visitors received by the firm after China added Vietnam to the list of markets for tourism. The firm is awaiting official information from the Chinese administration.

BT Tour has been receiving Chinese travelers since the beginning of the year, but most of them have come to Vietnam for both commercial purposes and travel. 

According to Tu, the firm had to prepare for a long time to receive the group of 16 travelers.

Tu predicted that the number of Chinese group travelers will soar sharply. Despite economic difficulties, demand from the huge market for travel, especially to islands in Southeast Asia, is always high.

Nguyen Thi Hai Nam, deputy CEO of Vietnam Global International Travel Group JSC, said soon after the news about Chinese travel to Vietnam, many Chinese partners contacted the company to ask about the resumption of air routes between the two countries, especially routes to attractions in Khanh Hoa, HCM City, Hanoi and Da Nang, and about visa application procedures, hotel room rates, tour guides and services at destinations.

In 2019, the firm received 100,000 Chinese travelers who mostly flew to Vietnam on chartered flights. However, the figure has been just 1,000 this year. Nam believes that chartered flights will only resume at the end of March or early April. 

According to Pham Minh Nhut, deputy chair of the Nha Trang Tourism Association, the city was ready to receive foreign travelers when Vietnam began reopening its tourism market on March 15, 2022. It has designed tours and prepared facilities to receive travelers.

With its leisure tourism thanks to beautiful beaches, Nha Trang also provides ecotourism and experience tourism. Most accommodation facilities in Nha Trang have resumed operation. About 120 facilities with 6,000 rooms are still closed because of the lack of Chinese travelers.

Nhut reported that on March 21-23, there will be six chartered flights with Chinese travelers from Chengdu, Hunan and Hop Phi to Cam Ranh, with 200 travelers each flight. From March 26 to October 28, 49 chartered flights will bring tens of thousands of Chinese travelers to Vietnam.

The number of Chinese travelers to Vietnam in 2019 accounted for one-third of total foreign travelers (nearly 5.8 million). 

With average spending of $1,022 for every trip, which is higher than Japan, South Korea and some countries in Southeas Asia, the reopening of group tours to Vietnam will contribute to fulfilling the target of 8 million travelers this year.

However, Nguyen Duc Chi, a travel expert, warned that Vietnam will have to compete with rivals to attract Chinese travelers. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore will begin receiving Chinese group travelers one month earlier than Vietnam. 

In general, travelers book tours several months in advance. The fact that Vietnam has just been added to the list of markets for tourism reopening in the second stage puts Vietnam at a disadvantage.

Vietnam has certain advantages in attracting Chinese travelers. However, the ‘big pieces of the cake’ have been gained by other countries.

The director of a large travel firm said Thailand and Malaysia have welcomed flows of Chinese travelers soon after China reopened its market, while Vietnam has missed the chance. However, Vietnamese firms can put a hope on the upcoming holiday, when China has a long May holiday.

The first Chinese travelers to Vietnam would come on chartered flights rather than commercial flights. Vietnam’s travel firms need to prepare well to receive and provide tourism products and services to travelers.

Tu stressed that the barrier that needs to be removed immediately is visa procedures. He has proposed expanding the number of companies which can access the service

According to Hai Nam, there is no big problem in visa policy for Chinese group travelers, but there are problems for separated travelers or self-planned group travelers. They have to satisfy many strict requirements, for example, they have to provide information about tour programs and tour guides.

Tu pointed out that the transportation cost is now relatively high because of the high gasoline price. Meanwhile, the tourism sector is lacking personnel, restaurants and hotels have just begun reopening. However, the hotel room rates in some tourism sites are very reasonable. In Nha Trang and Da Nang, the 4-star hotel room rates have been halved from VND1.2 million per night.

Ngoc Ha