Vietnam welcomed nearly 3.8 million international tourists

Vietnam welcomed nearly 3.8 million international visitors in the first eight months of this year, a drop of nearly 67% compared to the same period last year.

Janet Dang

duongdang24198@gmail.com August 31, 2020 | 13:11

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General Statistics Office on August 29 announced the figure of international tourists traveling to Vietnam in the first 8 months in 2020, showing a decline compared to last year. Under the report, the number of international tourists to Vietnam reached 163,000 in August, up nearly 17% over the previous month but down nearly 99% over the same period in 2019.

The main cause of this decline was Vietnam’s implementation of measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 pandemic, including the temporary closure of international tourism, according to Nhandan. The banned entry has been applied since March 22 and international flights have been suspended since March 25.

International visitors declined this year. Photo: Nguyen Nam

Since June, the tourism restrictions have been eased and promotion was boosted to attract domestic traveling. According to the General Statistics Office, the number of international visitors to Vietnam in June 2020 was estimated at 8,800 arrivals, down 61.3% from the previous month and 99.3% year-on-year. This number of tourists was mainly foreign experts and technical workers taking charge of projects in Vietnam.

Before the outbreak in Danang in July, many popular tourist destinations such as Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Quy Nhon, Da Nang, and Hoi An are welcoming tourists back. Ly Son Island, a new holiday hotspot in the central province of Quang Ngai, and the Imperial Citadel, a popular destination in the former capital Hue, reopened after a long shutdown, reported VNExpress.

Night market in Phu Quoc. Photo: Nguyen Nam

Due to the impacts of Covid - 19 pandemic, revenue from accommodation services in the first 6 months of 2020 reached only 234.7 trillion VND, dropping 18.1% over the same period last year. Meanwhile, travel revenue was only 10.3 trillion VND, down 53.2% over the same period in 2019. This is recorded the deepest decrease in the past 6 years.

Earlier, the first 4 months of 2020 saw 3.7 million foreign visitors. Asians accounted for 72.7 percent of the country’s four-month foreign arrivals, according to the General Statistics Office. The tourism industry earned revenues of VND7.9 trillion ($337 million), down 45 percent year-on-year, reported VNExpress.

After the second wave of coronavirus, tourism has few fluctuations. The visitors from Asia, which account for over 73% of internationals, saw a year-on-year decline of nearly 70% in the first eight months of this year. However, visitors from Cambodia increased by nearly 71%, according to Nhandan.

Tourrists' arrival from Europe and America also dropped significantly in by 55% and 65% respectively, compared to the same period last year.

By the complicated situations, domestic travel is regarded to be a solution to this drop. The General Department of Tourism (GDT) forecasts that by 2020, domestic tourists may reach about 60 to 65 million arrivals, declining about 30% compared to the same period in 2019 (85 million arrivals).

On August 25, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) attended the virtual Destination Mekong Summit themed “Balanced Tourism Recovery for a Better Future”. Many important issues were discussed at the summit, including the impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic as well as the forecast for the situation and measures needed in the near future, according to Nhandan.

In the morning, August 31, the Ministry of Health claimed no new cases of COVID-19 nationwide after 36 hours continuously.