VietNamNet Bridge – The number of Chinese travelers to Vietnam
has been decreasing after a long period of hot development, thus causing
worries to travel firms.
China has always been one of the
biggest markets for Vietnamese travel firms which provides ¼ of the total
number of foreign tourists to Vietnam. Therefore, the information that the
number of Chinese travelers to Vietnam in the first eight months of 2012
decreased by 9.7 percent in comparison with the same period of the last year
has caught the special attention from the public.
According to the General
Statistics Office (GSO), 894,000 Chinese travelers came to Vietnam in the first
eight months of the year, which was much lower than the 48 percent growth rate
obtained in the first eight months of 2011 in comparison with the same period
of 2010.
In 2011, Vietnam received 1.4
million Chinese travelers, an increase of 56.5 percent in comparison with one
year ago.
The reports by some international
travel firms have also shown the same situation. Travelink, which is believed
to have advantages in exploiting Chinese-speaking markets, has reported the
sharp fall of 30 percent in the number of travelers.
The firm now occasionally
receives small groups of travelers. Some partners have booked tours for the
upcoming tourist season. However, the travel firm does not put a high hope on
the recovery of the market.
“Some partners have booked some
more tours for the year end, but they may cancel tours in the last minute, like
they have been doing since the beginning of the year,” said Tu Quy Thanh,
Travelink’s Director.
“The Chinese partners also have
tours to offer, but they cannot attract the attention of travelers,” he added.
Cao Tri Dung, Director of Vitours
Da Nang, has also confirmed that the number of Chinese travelers has fallen
dramatically. In 2011, the firm served 100,000 Chinese travelers, while there
are few this year.
Travel firms have blamed the
decreases on the economic difficulties, which have forced people to cut down
expenses on tourism.
However, analysts say the main
reason behind this is that Chinese travel firms now refuse to cooperate with
Vietnamese travelers. After a long period of cooperation, Chinese travel firms
have decided to take all the steps from A to Z.
“Previously, we received a lot of
travelers coming in chartered aircraft. However, Chinese travel firms now book
hotel rooms themselves, arrange transport services and take other steps,” Dung
of Vitours said, adding that Vietnamese travel firms have lost customers, while
the State fails to collect tax.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam National
Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said Vietnam’s tourism now strives to attract
the tourists who spend much during their trips, instead of trying to attract
many tourists who have low spending levels.
These travelers mostly come from
the northern land border gates. The travelers only have to pay one million dong
for a tour which lasts three days and two nights. VNAT has affirmed that the
tightening of the control over the travelers coming across the border gates has
led to the decrease of Chinese travelers.
Reports say some 30 percent of
Chinese travelers come to Vietnam by land, 58 percent by air, while the
remaining by sea. The sharp falls have been seen not only in the number of
tourists by land, but by air as well due to the current economic difficulties.
However, Nguyen Quy Phuong,
Director of the Travel Department of VNAT, has admitted that it is really very
difficult to attract the travelers with high spending levels. However, VNAT
still considers China an important market and Vietnam needs to attract high
payers from the market.
Compiled by Thu Uyen
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