Home journey companies mentioned reasonably priced costs make Southeast and Northeast Asian locations notably interesting to Vietnamese vacationers, eclipsing home excursions as home flight prices soar.

Based on the Japan Nationwide Tourism Group (JNTO) in Vietnam, within the first two months of the 12 months, the variety of Vietnamese guests to Japan reached over 107,000, a 40% improve in comparison with the identical interval of 2019.

The variety of Vietnamese guests to Japan in February was the very best ever, exceeding 60,000.

The earlier highest month was February 2023, with 55,800 guests.

A JNTO consultant defined that the sudden improve in Vietnamese guests to Japan in February was because of the lengthy Lunar New 12 months vacation, a weaker yen making excursions to Japan cheaper than earlier than the pandemic, and the rising recognition of Japan amongst Vietnamese vacationers.

The variety of Vietnamese guests to Japan in March and April has not but been launched however is anticipated to rise.

Taiwan and South Korea additionally noticed a rise in Vietnamese guests within the first quarter. In January alone, the variety of Vietnamese guests to Taiwan reached over 17,000, rating tenth among the many high 10 key markets, in keeping with the Taiwan Tourism Administration.

The Korea Tourism Group (KTO) reported that just about 120,000 Vietnamese vacationers visited the nation within the first quarter, a 38.9% improve in comparison with the identical time final 12 months and an 8.5% improve in comparison with the identical interval in 2019.

In 2023, Vietnam was the main Southeast Asian market when it comes to the variety of basic and enterprise vacationers visiting South Korea, with over 420,000 Vietnamese visiting the nation, a rise by 140% in comparison with 2022 and 74% in comparison with 2019.

Nguyen Huy Hoang, operations director of Klook Vietnam, mentioned the journey e-commerce platform recorded a 63% improve in Vietnamese vacationers touring to Northeast Asia in March, the height of the cherry blossom season.

Hoang revealed that 87% of vacationers surveyed mentioned they devoted their whole journey simply to see the blossoms. Over half of Vietnamese customers on the Klook platform expressed a want to spend about two weeks on flower season excursions, spending a mean of as much as $2,500 throughout that interval.

Thi Quoc Duy, director of Retail Middle at BenThanh Vacationer, acknowledged that for the upcoming Reunification Day and Labor Day on April 30 and Might 1, in addition to the summer season vacation, the corporate’s excursions to Japan and South Korea have garnered probably the most curiosity and bookings.

They’re adopted by Southeast Asian journey packages to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand and Singapore stay conventional markets for Vietnamese vacationers.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand reported that within the first two months of the 12 months, the variety of Vietnamese guests to Thailand reached greater than 130,400, down 7% in comparison with the primary two months of 2023.

Nevertheless, the variety of guests is anticipated to extend within the upcoming summer season months.

The authority views Vietnam as an essential short-haul international tourism marketplace for Thailand. In 2023, Vietnamese guests have been among the many high ten markets coming to Thailand, with over a million visits, equal to 96% of the 2019 determine.

Vietnamese vacationers attend the Songkran pageant in Bangkok, April 12, 2024. Photograph by Nguyen Duc Huy

Singapore additionally recorded development in Vietnamese guests within the first quarter.

As of March 24, the variety of Vietnamese guests reached 93,000, a rise of greater than 2,000 in comparison with the primary quarter of 2023, equating to 40% of the primary quarter of 2019, in keeping with the Singapore Tourism Board.

In 2023, the circulation of Vietnamese vacationers to and from Changi Worldwide Airport ranked ninth among the many high 10 worldwide customer markets to the airport.

A VnExpress survey at two main tourism occasions in April, the Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Tourism Pageant and the Vietnam Worldwide Journey Mart (VITM) in Hanoi, confirmed that journey corporations rated worldwide excursions as overwhelming home excursions.

Bui Thanh Tu, Advertising and marketing Director of Greatest Value, confirmed that at each occasions, clients primarily bought excursions to China and Thailand.

A consultant from Hoang Viet Journey primarily based in Hanoi mentioned home merchandise accounted for less than 25% of the income after 4 days on the VITM honest, whereas excursions to China accounted for 35%, and different markets corresponding to Japan, Europe, and the U.S. contributed 40%.