For comparison, the total number of international tourists to Vietnam in the first 10 months of 2024 reached more than 14.1 million. Meanwhile, in the same period, Thailand welcomed about 30 million and the target for the whole year is 36.7 million. Vietnam only set a target of 17 - 18 million international visitors, which is only half of Thailand's.
Along with Thailand, in the Southeast Asian region, other competitors are Singapore and Malaysia. If the Vietnamese tourism industry cannot create new levers to make breakthroughs, it will always be the one who comes second.
Countries attract tourists from Vietnam, why can't the domestic tourism industry attract international tourists? Not to mention, we have to keep domestic tourists, we can't let the 9-day Tet holiday become an opportunity for other countries.
To keep family members and attract outsiders, the only way is to create many new, unique, and strange tourism products. If we only go back and forth with popular tours to visit famous places and go shopping, it will no longer be suitable for current tourism trends.
Modern people are tired of urban life and want to explore the wild and challenge themselves with adventurous activities. Vietnam is a beautiful country, with many localities having natural resources to exploit this type of tourism, the problem is to create suitable products.
Let me introduce a resource called cave, perhaps no country can compare to Vietnam. Famous places such as Quang Binh, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh are the dream places for cave lovers to set foot in. As for mountains and national forests, we must mention Cuc Phuong, Bach Ma, Con Dao, Cat Tien, Cat Ba, U Minh...
Furthermore, tourism products associated with cultural lands and many customs and practices rich in Vietnamese identity can attract tourists because of their uniqueness and strangeness. Tourists can blend into the lives of local people, experience the flavors of labor, production, and cuisine. These novelties, even Vietnamese people do not know much about, especially in remote areas.
Gone are the days of attracting tourists with readily available things, but with creative products.
