Regaining market share
It came as a surprise to many people that there were more international tourists to Hue than domestic ones, according to the statistics on the number of tourists coming to Hue in early April 2024. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of visitors to Hue accounted for 892,000, an increase of 41% over the same period. Among which, international visitors reached 447,000, a growth of 74.6% over the same period. Notably, Thua Thien Hue recorded the arrival of more international visitors than domestic ones (over 2,000). Total revenue from tourism is estimated at 1,711 billion VND, a rise of 21% over the same period.
It is strange to many people because the number of domestic tourists is generally many times larger than that of international ones to Vietnam, in which Hue tourism usually attracts 60 - 70% of domestic tourists. Fortunately, this strong growth results from an increase in the number of international visitors to Hue, not from a decrease in the number of domestic ones.
The top 10 generating regions of international tourism to Hue also witness positive changes. Besides traditional ones, such as Korea, France, England, Germany, Malaysia, Thailand, Italy, Taiwan, etc., America has recently generated a large number of visitors to Hue.
According to Mr. Truong Thanh Minh, Director of Tourism Promotion Information Center, America is the region that generates quite high-end international tourists with a large capacity to spend on tourism. Attracting a large number of high-spending tourists will significantly contribute to the growth in revenue of tourism.
Hue is regaining its international tourist market share, in which, the Ancient Capital’s tourism is focusing on obtaining and encouraging the tourist flows from Taiwan and Australia through strategies to introduce and promote Hue’s tourism products, in addition to that from the U.S. After development cycles associated with many fluctuations in tourist numbers, more Taiwanese, Australian and Korean tourists are now returning to Hue.
Following the peak season of international visitors, Hue tourism is about to enter a vibrant season of domestic tourists, in which the occasion of April 30th - May 1st holiday can become the first milestone, marking the strong attraction of visitors to Hue in the peak tourist season.
Before the five-day holiday period, there was a piece of good news that rooms at many hotels, resorts, and accommodation establishments had almost been fully booked by tourists. Travel businesses had also attracted many tourists to choose tours in Hue, promising that there would be an “explosion” in the number of tourists to Hue.
Recently, Agoda, the online travel platform, has just announced 8 destinations with the lowest average room prices, in the context that many Asian people are eagerly welcoming the upcoming holidays. With an average room price of 43 USD, Hue ranked third among the 8 cities with the best hotel room prices in Asia in April and May, when countries have many festivals and holidays. Agoda’s announcement is also an extremely attractive suggestion for visitors to come to Hue, not only during holidays. This is also an opportunity for Hue tourism to “win” market share and increase the number of visitors.
Reaching new milestones
After the global tourism has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hue tourism is seeking to grow strongly by setting milestones and solutions to achieve. The main milestone for Hue tourism in 2024 is to welcome about 3.5 - 4 million visitors, of which domestic tourists account for about 60-70%, and total revenue from tourism reaches about 7,500 - 8,000 billion VND.
It is indisputable that natural resources and diverse tourism potential provide opportune environment, conditions, and circumstances for Hue tourism to grow. In recent years, in addition to international tourism awards, it seems that the international press and the world’s leading prestigious tourism organizations are also highly appreciating and supporting tourism in the Ancient Capital of Vietnam with ratings, reviews, and suggestions to guide visitors to the land of the Huong River and Ngu Mountain.
At the end of last year, the famous travel magazine Travel+Leisure proposed Hue as one of the destinations in Asia that tourists shouldn’t miss on their 2024 travel itinerary. Recently, Time Out, the Britain’s leading travel magazine, has just ranked Vietnam in the top 9 safest destinations in the world for solo female travelers.
Normally, reviews and suggestions from reputable organizations will be an important basis for international visitors to make decisions on their travel itinerary. Hue already has traditional and mainstream tourists who come from Western Europe and Northeast Asia. Such reputable media information, therefore, will open up opportunities for encouraging more tourist flows to Hue.
Besides opportunities and advantages, the proactiveness of the tourism industry and the locality is still a core factor. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism, in a context where countries and localities are competing fiercely for the number of visitors, the tourism products are an especially important factor. Currently, although Hue has many tours and products associated with its tourism resources, the tourism industry and business community will need to continue to research, invest, and refine their products to create unique and appealing products for different tourism market segmentations to attract tourists. Local authorities and the tourism industry will also need to make efforts to call for and attract investment in infrastructure and tourism services to meet tourist needs, especially high-class shopping centers and entertainment services at night.
According to Mr. Truong Thanh Minh, in 2024, Thua Thien Hue province, as Head of the tourism development association group in 5 localities, namely Thua Thien Hue - Da Nang - Quang Nam - Quang Binh - Quang Tri, proposes to deploy the practices of collaborating with a number of key provinces/cities and regions across the country and participating in regional tourism promotion activities in 2024, thereby improving the effectiveness of the linkage of 5 localities in the practice of promoting tourism products to provinces and cities across the country such as participating in a number of outstanding annual tourism fairs, organizing stimulus programs in big cities and coordinating to welcome domestic famtrip and presstrip groups to visit and write articles. In addition, we will participate in tourism fairs, connect international partners to cooperate, and convey information about attractive destinations and tourism products to tourists.