MICE groups of hundreds of people have returned to Da Nang, Phu Quoc... many resorts are full even though they have not reached the peak period.
"Domestic tourism is no longer a barrier" is the assertion of Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director of the General Department of Tourism, when Vietnam announced the opening of tourism on March 15. According to statistics of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of domestic visitors in February reached 9.6 million, an increase of 380% over the same period in 2021, of which about 6 million guests stayed.
Expected to book a room in Phu Quoc, Kien Giang, on the weekend in March, but Ms. Thanh Huong, Hanoi, could not find a satisfactory place in the center. The resorts in Duong Dong with prices from 1,000,000 VND/night are fully booked on weekends. Representatives of Sunset Beach Resort and Ocean Bay Resort said that the room was fully booked on weekends from Tet to the end of March.
Tourists stayed on May Rut island on February 5. Photo: Phan Phuong
Mr. Nguyen Vu Khac Huy, Vice President of Kien Giang Tourism Association, uses the word "roar" to refer to the rapidly increasing number of tourists in Phu Quoc. In the first two months of the year, Kien Giang welcomed more than one million visitors, of which Phu Quoc was 740,000. He said that when tourism opened, international visitors had not come right away, so they still mainly relied on the domestic market. At the same time, this is the time to prepare personnel and plan to welcome international guests back at the end of the year.
Not only Phu Quoc, many famous destinations in the southern region also recorded a sharp increase in the number of visitors even though this is not the peak tourist season. Vung Tau and Da Lat were more than 90% full on the weekends in March. In Nha Trang this figure is nearly 80%. In the North, many resorts near Hanoi such as Mai Chau Hideaway, Avana Retreat, Mai Chau Ecolodge... in Hoa Binh are also 90-100% full on the weekends of the month.
"Vietnam has a variety of tourism products, the locality has its own strengths in culture and resources. If nearly 100 million people take turns to travel, it will create a lot of value for the industry," Mr. Huy said.
After a nearly frozen year, tourism combined with conference, team building (MICE) has "boomed". This is how Ms. Hoang Thuy Linh, Deputy Director of Marketing, Communications and Travel Saigontourist, commented. In the first three months of the year, the company served 150 delegations, totaling 20,000 guests. In March alone, there were 13,000 guests. In the second quarter, the company will have a group of 2,200 guests in Long Hai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau. "The market has really prospered with both retail customers and groups. On the holiday from April 30 to May 1, we expect to serve 8,000 customers," Ms. Linh said. The company has prepared 60 products for the holiday and the Ancestral Anniversary in early April.
Similarly, Vietravel also has about 20,000 MICE visitors in March and is expected to reach 28,000 in April. The company also serves more than 3,700 Vietnamese tourists going to Thailand, Dubai, Turkey, Maldives, USA... Fiditour - Vietluxtour is receiving groups of hundreds of guests, contract value tens of billion dong.
"In the first quarter, the recovery rate of the domestic market is quite good, showing an optimistic signal again. If the epidemic control situation and the trend of customer sentiment are still maintained, this summer is expected to return to the country. domestic tourism will prosper," said Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communication Director of Fiditour - Vietluxtour.
Along with MICE programs, most major travel agencies continue to organize Vietnamese delegations to go abroad. The number of visitors in March increased about three times from the previous month and more steadily.
The delegation of Fiditour Travel - Vietluxtour tour Ho Tram, Ba Ria Vung Tau in February. Photo: CTCC
On March 22, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province will hold an event. The organization launched the reopening of tourism activities in Vietnam - The full experience comes with many promotional activities. After that, Quang Nam hosted the National Tourism Year with the theme of Green Tourism Destinations, opening on the evening of March 26, with a hot air balloon festival, spring tourism activities in Quang land, river tourism... Thua Thien Hue will hold the Festival in early April, along with the VnExpress Marathon Imperial Hue 2022, which is expected to attract thousands of visitors...
In Hanoi, after a year of being unable to organize, the International Tourism Fair. VITM will return from March 31 to April 3 with the participation of more than 500 businesses, with tens of thousands of stimulus tours, discounted air tickets... In Da Nang, a tourism fair also takes place. launched in a week from March 17 to 25 with the participation of 150 domestic enterprises and 60 international partners.
At a recent tourism forum, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh commented: "In the context of the current epidemic, the number of domestic tourists is still increasing, affirming the right implementation of safe tourism activities. the past time and the readiness for tourism activities in the current opening period".
In 2022, Vietnam's tourism aims to welcome 60 million domestic and 5 million international visitors.
