Largest Indian delegation ever
This is the first time a major Vietnamese travel agency has served such a large group of Indian tourists . 4,500 guests from billionaire Dilip Shanghvi's pharmaceutical group from many different countries, but mainly Indians, will be divided into small groups to visit Vietnam from August 27 to September 7.
This event is the result of tourism promotion work from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism , the Embassy, the Consulate General, the Trade Office of Vietnam in India, and the efforts of tourism businesses. The leaders of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism acknowledged that this was a large group of tourists, including a world billionaire. Therefore, this is a good opportunity to promote Vietnamese tourism to the Indian market.
Ms. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh - Marketing Director - Vietravel Tourism Company - the unit that organized the reception of the group, said that the group's services were booked 2-3 months in advance. Although the company has experience in successfully deploying many large-scale inbound groups, Ms. Khanh shared that the challenge is the large scale and number.
In addition, the company flexibly adjusts and arranges to meet the special requirements of the group. In particular, the request for vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes depending on beliefs and religions is also noted.
High paying, demanding market
India is the world's most populous country with over 1.425 billion people. It is estimated that Indian tourists will spend about 42 billion USD on foreign tourism in 2024, according to the Economic Times. Although this spending is significantly less than China - 106 billion USD in 2021, this is still a very large number. India is a potential market not only for Vietnam but also for all countries in the world, according to the assessment of the Institute of Tourism Development Research (ITDR).
However, the problem is that tourism businesses, accommodation and food services... need to grasp the psychological characteristics of Indians to thoughtfully serve tourists from this potential market.
According to businesses, Vietnam is a new destination and has only become popular with Indian tourists since the COVID-19 pandemic. Indian tourists do not have much knowledge about tourism in Vietnam.
Mr. Vu Van Tuyen - CEO of Travelology Vietnam - commented that India is an extremely demanding and potential market. Accordingly, the sales and marketing department has difficulty consulting Indian tourists.
Ms. Nguyen Cam Ly - Deputy Director of Communications and Marketing of Sheraton Hanoi Hotel - said that the hotel has welcomed many large groups of Indian guests, especially MICE groups in the Pharmaceutical, IT or Consulting industries from India. "The common point of these groups is that they have very high requirements for food - the dishes and chai tea must be authentically Indian" - Ms. Ly said.
In fact, when traveling abroad, Indian tourists always request Indian cuisine on their journey. Therefore, restaurants and hotels in Vietnam need to thoroughly understand Indian cuisine to train staff and prepare appropriate ingredients.
Finally, to promote and attract Indian tourists, it is indispensable to promote and market development, especially developing a network of direct flights.
According to information from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of the end of July, there were 54 direct flights between the two countries every week. The flight route between Vietnam and India is considered to have the fastest growth rate in recent times.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism stated that after the two countries increased direct flights between major cities, the number of Indian tourists to Vietnam increased 2.5 times, confirming the strong growth in travel demand in the region.
