Cashing in on tourism spike

The government is preparing to splash out on Vietnam’s tourism market amid a surge in foreign tourist arrivals this year.
A surge in tourists flocking to Vietnam since early this year has fueled the hospitality industry to plant more attractions to catch more money-spenders.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam increased from nearly 1.3 million in the first four months of 2009 to 1.8 million in this year’s corresponding period, roughly 38.5 percent up.
“The growth is quite impressive. 5I think our target to coax 4.2 million foreign arrivals this year may be achievable,” said Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the VNAT under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
He attributed the growth to Vietnam’s active tourism promotional campaigns, including participation in international fairs and festivals and effective advertisement in major foreign TV channels.
To lure even more tourists this year, the government will spend VND71 billion (US$3.64 million) on promoting Vietnam as an appealing destination, up from the VND59 billion (US$2.56 million) it spent in 2009.
“The amount is far less than other regional countries’ expenditures, but it is how to use this money most effectively,” Mr Tuan said.
The VNAT will also launch a series of tourism promotion programmes overseas this month, including tourism fairs, exhibitions and road-shows in China, Spain, Brunei, Germany, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Japan and Singapore.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, deputy head of the VNAT’s Marketing Department, said Vietnam’s tourism would be promoted by large posters on the United Nations building in New York and on the Vietnamese Consulate building in Japan. Advertisements would also continue to be aired on the BBC and CNN.
“We will also promote the celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi on 100 large posters at Tokyo’s 45 underground railway stations,” Ms Huong said.
The VNAT is hiring local and foreign tourism experts to come up with criteria for a contest to replace the logo and slogan “Vietnam – the Hidden Charm” that have been used to promote Vietnam since 2006.
“The new image must be selected before late this year so that we can prepare for tourism programmes in 2011-2015,” Mr Tuan said.
According to Paul Stoll, chief executive officer of Ho Chi Minh City-based Celadon International Group, announcing such programmes will increase awareness of the destination of Vietnam. “But the programmes must focus on quality, and targeted markets and tourists,” he said.