BANGKOK, 5 May 2020: Vietnam’s reopening of its domestic travel sector is expected to be replicated by focusing on short-haul Asian markets in a quest to restore its international tourism profile.
A newly released survey of qualified travellers from first-tier cities in China by leading hospitality consulting group C9 Hotelworks and Delivering Asia Communications analyses Chinese inbound tourism demand to Vietnam.
Key takeaways
Nearly half of the respondents want to travel abroad this year, with 45% interested in travelling specifically to Vietnam.
Post Covid-19 Chinese travellers are looking at more mainstream, well-known destinations with top Vietnam picks being Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Nha Trang/Cam Ranh Bay and Halong Bay.
81% of younger travellers say they would choose independent travel as opposed to group tours. This fact, coupled with younger Chinese booking travel digitally via WeChat and Fliggy is a new twist in Vietnam’s marketing to China inbound tourists.
Air travel: Fear factor
Speaking about the reopening of Vietnam tourism, C9 Hotelworks managing director Bill Barnett said “a post-crisis short-term ‘fear factor’ is expected for extended air travel which will be manifested in a preference for short-haul, door-to-door flights, which is a key opportunity for China outbound to Vietnam.
Domestic travel leads
“Of equal importance is to understand that at the moment, and in the coming months, domestic travel and tourism will define the gradual recovery process. What is significant about the China Vietnam Survey is who are the immediate post-crisis travellers and how can hotels and tourism stakeholders proactively meet their needs. We see a parallel trend in early travellers both domestically and from the China data, which pair up in a new tourism visitor profile,” said Barnett.
Delivering Asia Communications CEO, David Johnson added: “A 360 view of the results from over 1,000 qualified respondents conclude that tourism for the remainder of the year will be heavily leveraged by younger travellers in the age range of 20 to 29 years old, who increasingly place emphasis on booking hotels on digital platforms.
“Two other significant trends from our China research showed that aside from sightseeing and eating being key activities, nature moved up in preference, which could be a reaction to a post-crisis change in tourism values. Diving into accommodation preferences, the two ends of the price spectrum of budget/economy and five-star hotels drew most positive responses from the Chinese surveyed,” he said.
Free web event
In addition to the survey, a free web event is being held on Thursday 7 May at 1400 Vietnam time led by C9 Hotelworks and Delivering Asia Communications including leading experts Ken Atkinson, Founder and Senior Advisor of Grant Thornton Vietnam and Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, Michael Piro, Chief Operating Officer of Indochina Capital and David Keen, Chief Executive Officer, QUO.
Register here:
Read and download the China Vietnam Travel Sentiment Survey 2020 here:
This is CRAZY, why would these hotels market to the Chinese while they try to steal your islands. Oh yea, only care about profit.
I guess I will look for a different place to go
That a bad news, Chinese tourist will bring with it Chinavirus II to destroy VN economy for sure
Love your comment very much. You are absolutely right