Why can't Chinese tourists come to Vietnam in large numbers?

Why can't Chinese tourists come to Vietnam in large numbers?

China and Vietnam have both opened their doors, but free travel between the two countries is not currently possible.

China on February 6 allowed domestic travel companies to organize international tours to 20 countries around the world, including many Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. , but no Vietnam.

According to Ms. Nguyen Le Binh, Deputy Director of Vietnam Tourism Department, Guangxi Overseas Tourism Company (Nan Ninh City, Guangxi Province, China), currently Chinese travel companies have not yet opened tour sales. bringing guests to Vietnam due to procedural problems.

"China has not re-issued tourist visas to Vietnamese tourists and vice versa. All visitors to Vietnam from January 8 until now have all come under separate agreements, or commercial visas," Ms. Binh said and hoped that visitors would China will soon be able to travel to Vietnam.

"We are waiting for official instructions from the authorities to start selling tours," said the Deputy General Director of a large travel company in Vietnam. Currently the company is targeting markets in Southeast Asia, North Asia, Europe, America, the Middle East, and India. "The sooner Chinese guests arrive, the better," this person added about the goal of welcoming international visitors in 2023.
From January 8, China reopened its borders after three years of epidemic. However, China said that citizens who want to travel in the future still need to "travel in an orderly manner", "based on the epidemic situation in the world and guaranteed service capabilities".

Vietnam recorded a number of cases of Chinese tourists passing through land border gates or by charter flights. On January 8, the border gates in Lao Cai and Lang Son welcomed a number of delegations from China. Local authorities shared that these were returnees or business travelers, not ordinary tourists. During the Lunar New Year, more than 200 Chinese tourists came to Nha Trang for a spring vacation on a charter flight.

The Deputy General Director said that Chinese visitors to Vietnam are currently mostly on official business or have pre-existing visas. Due to Covid-19, after opening, they were extended to come to Vietnam.

"Vietnamese businesses are looking forward to welcoming Chinese tourists. They are ready in terms of both human resources and services. Now we are just waiting for the Government to announce a new policy so that travel agencies can proactively introduce them." effective plans to welcome guests," said Mr. Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association.

On the morning of February 8, during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Vietnam, Hung Ba, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang proposed that Vietnam and China need to soon restore tourism cooperation after nearly three years of interruption. due to Covid-19.

In 2019, more than 5.8 million Chinese visitors came to Vietnam, accounting for one-third of the total number of international visitors, an increase of 17% over the same period in 2018. 2019 also recorded the largest international spending by Chinese visitors in the world. world with more than 250 billion USD.

As soon as China opened its doors, some Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Indonesia had policies to attract tourists from this country. Both countries apply visa on arrival for tourism purposes, with a stay of 30 days. The first 260 Chinese guests arrived in Bangkok on January 11, and Indonesia welcomed 200 guests from China on January 21. By the end of the first quarter, Thailand is expected to welcome 300,000 Chinese visitors, 7-8 million for the whole year.
Vietnam will open tourism from March 15, 2022, restoring visa exemption for 24 countries and territories , with a maximum duration of 15 days.

Representatives of travel companies and tourism associations affirmed that China "is a large market" and that the arrival of luxury Chinese tourists could "be a pressure" on the tourism industry in achieving the target of 8 million visitors. foreign this year.

In addition, Director of Outbox Market Research Company Dang Manh Phuoc said that Vietnam needs to proactively attract Chinese tourists after its citizens can travel around the world. He said this was an "urgent issue". Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam still has too little information about the market as well as successfully implementing promotional campaigns to attract Chinese tourists.

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