Foreign travelers on sharp rise, putting pressure on tourism infrastructure

As the number of foreign tourists continues to grow at a high rate, travel firms have been advised to disperse travelers to many tourism sites to avoid overloading.



According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), 6.2 million foreign travelers visited Vietnam in the first half of the year, an increase of 30.2 percent compared with the same period last year. The markets with the highest growth rates were Russia, China and South Korea.

The number of travelers from China reached 1.9 million, up by 56.7 percent and from South Korea, 1.06 million, up by 43.9 percent, while there were 313,000 travelers from Russia, up  53.4 percent compared with the same period.

VNAT general director Nguyen Van Tuan has predicted a sharp increase in the number of travelers in the second half of the year. The number of Chinese travelers may reach 4 million by the end of the year, and from Russia, 600,000, and South Korea, 2 million.

The sharp increase in tourists will put pressure on infrastructure and tourism services. In Hanoi and Nha Trang, hotel rooms have been fully booked.

“This is a good tendency, but the growth is too hot,” Tuan said.

“We are seeking solutions to ease the overloading at some tourism points to ensure high quality of services. We recommend that travel firms disperse travelers instead of focusing on tours that bring tourists to overcrowded areas,” he said.

Instead of the sea city of Nha Trang, travel firms should consider other destination pints such as Da Nang, Phu Quoc and Binh Thuan, which are also admirable. Da Nang has one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet.

As for travelers to Hanoi, instead of staying in the capital city, travelers can visit Ha Long Bay and Trang An.

Tuan said it was within reach to control services from these markets, because the travelers from these countries usually come in large groups and mostly come to Vietnam under tours designed by travel firms.

In 2016, Vietnam attracted 10 million foreign travelers. VNAT estimated that the number of foreign travelers may reach 11.5 million this year.

However, the government recently asked the tourism industry to reach the target of attracting 13-15 million foreign travelers this year to help fulfill the plan on GDP growth rate.

The biggest headache for travel firms now is the shortage of labor force. Some travel firms said the labor costs had increased by 10-15 percent and may be even higher due to the lack of supply.

Mai Chi / vietnamnet