Vietnam tourism promotes, welcomes "wave" of Indian tourists

Tien Giang welcomes MICE delegation from India

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in the first 6 months of 2023, Vietnam tourism welcomed about 5.6 million international visitors.

Notably, the Indian market has seen strong growth with more than 141,000 visitors, ranking 10th among the leading markets of Vietnamese tourism.

Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration Nguyen Trung Khanh said that Vietnam has identified India as a top priority potential market and needs to step up promotional activities to attract visitors.

This is demonstrated by the strong development of air connectivity between the two countries, facilitating the promotion of passenger exchange between India and Vietnam.

Vietnamese airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Indigo of India have opened many routes, connecting Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc with New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata of India.

Not only Phu Quoc, many other famous places such as Nha Trang, Da Nang, Ha Long, Hoi An... are all favorite destinations chosen by Indian tourists.

The Institute for Tourism Development Research (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism) conducted a "Research on the Indian tourist market to Vietnam" and chose Phu Quoc to survey and evaluate the current development status of the Indian tourist market to our country.

According to the Institute's assessment, India is being assessed by many tourism experts to become one of the largest markets in the world and an attractive tourist market that Vietnam needs to target.

Through surveys and discussions with local management agencies and tourism service providers, the Institute for Tourism Development Research believes that Indian tourists are a potential customer segment but not easy to exploit. To understand the psychology and best serve this group of tourists, tourism agencies need to prepare a team of tourism personnel who understand the culture, living habits, and cuisine of Indian people.

In fact, in our country today, there are not many tour guides with experience serving Indian guests in Vietnam. There are still few businesses serving Indian cuisine.

Therefore, to catch the "wave" of Indian tourists, Phu Quoc tourism in particular and Vietnam tourism in general need to have a separate infrastructure investment plan to meet specific needs related to religious beliefs, living habits, and unique cuisine.

Therefore, Phu Quoc needs to cooperate with large domestic travel agencies to connect visitors to the locality.

According to statistics, in 2022, the total number of Indian visitors to Vietnam will reach 137,900, ranking 9th in the top 10 international tourist markets to Vietnam.

Currently, three airlines Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Indigo (India) are operating 21 direct routes with more than 60 flights per week connecting major cities of Vietnam and India.

However, India is a multi-religious country, and groups of guests will follow many different religions. Therefore, businesses must carefully research to meet service and food standards for each group of guests.

Thailand is also actively attracting Indian tourists. In 2022, Thailand welcomed 1 million Indian tourists out of a total of 11 million international arrivals. This is the second largest source of international visitors to Thailand in 2022, after Malaysia.

According to VNA