Tourism and Travel industries in Vietnam

The tourism and Travel industries in Vietnam play a significant in contributing to the countries' GDP. As of 2019, before the Corona chronicles, this sector contributed a national GDP of 12 percent. As such, tourism is a significant contributor to Vietnam's economy. A reasonable percentage of the local communities benefit directly or indirectly from the tourism industry in the country. Additionally, tourism has led to the growth of other parallel sectors. The local communities benefit from tourism and travel sectors in various ways. Tourism makes a better community for the residents reinvest money spent by tourists in local economies. This industry has also created lots of jobs for the Vietnamese. For instance, the tourism sector created 660,000 jobs between 2014 to 2019. Tourism supports local businesses and has led to creativity fostering net business ventures. All groups in Vietnam get opportunities in this industry - youths, and women, have an outstanding share in this industry, and hence it has encouraged equality among the marginalized groups.

Above all, tourism encourages and boosts peace among people from different regions because they learn about each other cultures. Tourism in Vietnam has contributed to preserving heritage by preserving historical and cultural sites. Furthermore, the local communities are encouraged to protect wildlife through preservation programs against illegal poaching. This sector has also contributed to adopting new technology that boosts tourist services such as money transactions. Several industries in Vietnam draw lots of revenues from the tourism industry. Tourism has increased employment in other sectors like hotels and restaurants, which offer services to the tourists traveling away from their homes. Travel agencies depend on the tourism sector to provide transportation services to tourists. Other sectors benefiting from the tourism sector include souvenir shops, beverage companies, etc. Overly, the tourism sector contributes to the growth of the Vietnamese economy, helps the local communities, boosts other industries, and creates room for further investments in the country.

Vietnam reported the first case of the Covid-19 virus on March 23, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic led to lockdown in the country and closed borders barring foreigners from entering. This action was a measure made to prevent the fast spread of the virus. Although the measures taken were worth it, as they aimed to protect human life, the outcomes were unbearable in the economic sector. The pandemic deteriorated most of the industries that contributed to the economic growth in the country. The tourism sector was not an exception. Vietnam banned foreigners from entering the country through the closure of the country boundaries, whereas lockdown led to the prevention of local tourism in the country. Since March 2020, when the government imposed these measures, the pandemic immensely affected the tourism and travel sectors, affecting the national economy. International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a report that forecasted that some of the Vietnamese economic sectors would be severely affected by the pandemic, including tourism, transportation, and accommodation sectors. The fall of tourism led to the loss of jobs, tourism industry ventures, and reduced revenues in the other industries that depended on tourism. In June 2020, the domestic tourism in the country began to recover, only later to enter other struggles owing to the second and third waves of COVID-19. The COVID-19 affected the tourism sector immensely, and we can feel its effects nationwide.

The Vietnamese government and the business class are awakenings to get the national economy fixed in this post-Covid-19 re-birth era. Before the eve of the pandemic, Vietnam had a strategy to attract about 20 million foreign visitors. The previous year Vietnam attracted 16.3 million international visitors, which summed up to be a 15.4% increase from the preceding year, 2018. Henceforth, the country remains a potential destination for international travelers. Since the pandemic led to the financial collapse of the family and the local community businesses making a living on tourism, it is essential to look for a robust solution that will consider the local communities in boosting the economy. There is an already outstanding basement for tourism and travel sectors in the country; hence, investors can easily pick up on the reinvestment strategy to take the country back into or beyond its target. 

Find out more about Lotus & Jasmine, our new project to welcome responsible travelers to Vietnam and promote sustainable hospitality with focus on Profit, People and Planet.