Vietnam tourism is blooming up

In 30 - 40 years ago, Vietnam was little known in the world travel map. With the spectacular natural resources, diversified local culture, as well as authentic and tasty cuisine, Vietnam is considered the Pearl of The Far East, which needs to be uncovered for the tourists to touch the charm and beauty. Hence, since 1995, Vietnam government has issued many supportive policies to attract more foreign tourists and develop the tourism in Vietnam.

Over the past decade, Vietnam's tourism has witnessed the changes of potential lands. Can this Vietnam's smokeless industry catch up with Singapore and Malaysia and close the gap with Thailand?

The awakened lands

The world's most luxurious resort for 4 consecutive years - InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula in Da Nang constructed by Sun Group - Photo: Internet

In the past, there were only a few large scale amusement parks in Vietnam. However, at the moment, it is not difficult for tourists to find out amusement parks in the big cities and provinces such as Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Quang Ninh… such as Sun World Ba Na Hills, Sun World Danang Wonders (Da Nang), Sun World Halong Complex, Dragon Park, Typhoon Water Park (Ha Long), Vinpearl Land (Nha Trang), Vinpearl Safari (Phu Quoc), Suoi Tien Cultural Park (Ho Chi Minh City)...

Many entertainment complexes such as Sun World Danang Wonder become tourist attractions - Photo: Internet

High-class resorts are springing up, which brings Vietnam to the world. InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in Da Nang has become a destination for politicians, businessmen and billionaires in the world, because the splendid luxury has been recognized globally with the award "The most luxurious resort in the world"for three consecutive years: 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Kem Beach (Nam Phu Quoc) is considered by the world billionaires as a "luxurious destination for tourism" in the future, because the 5-star JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort was awarded by World Travel Awards with two special rewards: The world's leading luxurious resort and villa on the island 2018 and The world's most luxurious theme resort.

Sapa was a name that received little attention due to difficult road and few tourism products, but now the town also has a new vitality. In 2009, nearly  nearly 302,000 visitors came Sapa. In 2018, the number was 2,420,000 (increased by 8 times). And only in the first 7 months of this year, the total number of tourists to Lao Cai reached nearly 3.33 million (increased by 1.4 times compared with the previous year).

From a mountainous region with poor tourism infrastructure, Sa Pa now has a world-class resort called Sun World Fansipan Legend, "The best new luxury hotel in Vietnam" - Hotel de la Coupole, MGallery by Sun Group, or Pao's Sa Pa, Victoria Sa Pa resort... It is believed that the foggy town will escape the scene of "picking up every single coin", confidently welcome high-class tourists, and bring great revenue for the province’s tourism.

Catch up with the neighbors?

The miraculous growth of Vietnam's tourism over the past time is the basis to be confident that we can catch up and even surpass some countries in the region such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2018, Vietnam welcomed 15.6 million international tourists, nearly catching up with Indonesia (15.8 million) and it is expected that in 2019, if there are 18 million tourists, we will be equal to Singapore (18.5 million- 2018).

Sun World Fansipan Legend is the famous tourist spot in Sapa

Thanks to the world-class recreational and resort complex, Vietnam tourism has caught up and even surpassed many Asian countries.

Though not able to overcome Malaysia (25.8 million), but according to tourism experts, Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore is not as potential as Vietnam, we will have to "accelerate" both infrastructure and service quality even more to catch up.

The biggest advantage of Singapore tourism is not the beauty of nature, but the infrastructure and tourism services. With tourist projects and entertainment complexes become symbols such as Marina Bay Sand, Botanical Garden, Resort World Sentosa, Universal Studio... as well as shopping streets filled with high-end brands such as Orchard Road... Singapore attracts tourists by modern and synchronized tourism infrastructure.

Thailand's tourism has continuously grown on an average of 30-40% per year over the past 10 years, despite political instability and natural disasters. Investing in infrastructure and tourism services, Thailand has turned Phuket into a resort paradise, Pattaya into an endless entertainment area, Bangkok into a shopping paradise... That investment will not stop, because the Minister of Thailand Tourism once said: "Our goal is to focus on quality and how to make tourists stay longer and spend more money."

Maldives, from the island without banks, airports, no fresh water, no electricity, has become a resort paradise, with 4 - 5 star resorts and restaurants under the ocean ... to attract each year 750,000 visitors, double more than population of the whole country. Malaysia is globally famous for its Petronas twin towers, Putrajaya new city, luxury resorts and high-end entertainment destinations such as Genting World Resort, whereas, the Genting plateau was wild before. 

Looking from the neighborhood to see what Vietnam tourism has been doing is just the beginning. There is still a long way to catch up with other countries in the same region, and the penetration of big domestic and foreign investors will still be the ace to boost Vietnam's tourism.

Travel Authentic Asia was established in 2011 to meet the increasing demands of overseas tourists to Vietnam. At the moment, Travel Authentic Asia has offer tailor made tours to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar to more than 4000 travellers in over the world. Thus, if you want to discover beautiful landscapes, diversified culture and friendly people in Vietnam, you can book a tour with Travel Authentic Asia via email: [email protected] or WhatApp: +84 912221442.