Hanoi (VNA) – Threemonths have passed since Vietnam completely reopened its tourism activities, including bothinbound and outbound tours. While domestic travel is witnessing a boom, strongerefforts are needed to seize post-pandemic opportunities to attract more internationalvisitors.

Vietnam welcomed 172,900foreign arrivals in May, shooting up 70.6 percent month on month and 12.8-fold yearon year. The five-month figure increased 4.5-fold year on year but stillnosedived 95 percent from the same period of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out,according to the General Statistics Office.

Ha Noi Moi daily cited NguyenTrung Khanh, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism(VNAT), as saying that since the country completely reopened tourism on March15, with an open “vaccine passport” policy and many international air routesresumed, especially the successful organisation of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), the number of foreign visitors has been onthe rise.

Recently, Khanh Hoa provincewelcomed 160 Singaporean tourists to its famous resort city of Nha Trang. Afterreceiving several groups of Singaporean and Thai travellers in late March, DaNang city is working to attract more visitors from India. Meanwhile, Phu Quoc island of Kien Giang province served 4,300 international arrivals in the NationalReunification (April 30) and May Day holidays alone.

Outbound tourism is alsobouncing back.

Many travel agents said toursto Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia are currently magnets for Vietnamesetravellers thanks to these destinations’ favourable visa and “vaccine passport”policies. Some companies strong at arranging tours to Europe and the US havealso recorded an increasing number of customers.

However, the VNAT pointed outthat although inbound tourism has been reactivated, the number of internationalvisitors to the country has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.

Nguyen Xuan Quynh, CEO of Allez Voyage travel company, said the firm has served just several touristgroups from the US. Many travellers wish to stay in Vietnam for a longer period,but the visa exemption currently lasts for only 15 days. Besides, soaring fuelprices have also inflated many services’ costs, making it hard for the companyto make tourist reception plans.

Director of VentindoTravel company Thai Thi Thanh Lan noted while Vietnam has reopened tointernational tourists, many countries still maintain a tightened travelpolicy. Visitors from such major markets as China and Russia haven’t returnedto Vietnam.

Businesses are also facing numerousdifficulties related to financial and personnel shortages, product renewal, tourismpromotion, and customer seeking, said President of Lux Group Pham Ha.

To attract more foreigntourists, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh suggested enterprisesrecruit new personnel, provide more training to their existing employees while developingnew products and upgrading old ones so as to bring new experiences totravellers.

VNAT General Director Khanhrecommended companies step up tourism promotion in potential markets such asEurope, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. Both travelfirms and localities should boost the application of technology to enhance theattractiveness of their destinations and tourism products.

According to the WorldEconomic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index 2021, Vietnam ranked 52nd among the 117 listed economies, jumping eight places from 2019.

Data from Google showed thatthe volume of international searches on Vietnam’s tourism has grown by 50 - 75 percent,the fourth highest increase in the world./.