After days of waiting in the wings, Vietnam’s Tourism once again turned back with steady steps into the top 3 countries with the best improvement in the world.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 took place right at the golden time of tourism – the festive and spiritual tourism season of worldwide tourists after the Lunar New Year holiday. The tourism industry was strongly affected by the first destructive wave of COVID-19. 2 years later, on March 15, 2022, Vietnam Tourism fully reopened. It has been 4 months so far. Many localities immediately became vibrant again with large numbers of international and domestic tourists. It can be seen that the tour operators are making every effort to quickly recover, and promote their tourism products. As a proud recognition of the industry’s efforts, according to the statistics of the World Economic Forum’s Global Tourism Development Capability Index 2021 report, Vietnam occupied 6 categories at the top of the 17 pillar indexes.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is widely known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Leaders and politicians come together to discuss and come up with solutions to pressing global issues. WEF has a significant influence on global business and political policy decisions. Realizing the heavy damage caused by COVID-19 to the tourism industry, WEF has completely changed its approach to the problem, from assessing the rating of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) to the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI). The new set of criteria is designed to place the tourism industry in a broader socio-economic context, along with the appearance of new criteria such as Non-recreational resources; Socio-economic sustainability; Pressure and impact of tourism demand… Over the past 15 years, this report has become a prestigious metric in the tourism industry, along with a new approach that is completely appropriate in the context of tourism. This will be a guideline for both global tourism in general and Vietnam in particular after the pandemic to develop more sustainably.
In 17 main indexes, Vietnam tourism accounts for 6 categories from 1-35 in the world, including Price competitiveness (ranked 15th), Natural resources (ranked 24th), Cultural resources (ranked 25th), Aviation infrastructure (ranked 27th), Non-recreational resources (ranked 29th), Safety and security (ranked 33rd).
In addition, Vietnam has 7 pillar indexes classified as upper-middle class, including Business environment, Human and labor market, Ground and port infrastructure, Readiness for information technology, Information and communication, Socio-economic resilience, Pressures and impacts of tourism demand, and Degree of international openness.
Therefore, out of 17 pillar indexes, Vietnam has 13 indexes ranked from the middle group to the top group in the world. In which, the most increasing indexes such as Business environment increased by 30 places; Human resources and Labor market increased by 27 ranks, Price competitiveness increased by 20 ranks, Safety and security by 16 ranks, Ground and port infrastructure up by 15 ranks. These are the main factors that helped Vietnam increase 8 levels compared to 2019 and ranking in the top 3 countries with the best improvement in the world.
To get such a positive result, Vietnam’s Tourism had to seize opportunities in the direst circumstances. Vietnam currently has advantages since the country can control the COVID-19 epidemic and is highly appreciated by international friends. This contributes to affirming the image of Vietnam – as an attractive and safe destination during the outbreak of the pandemic. On top of that, more and more tourism services are developed on a digital platform, tourists have more choices, reduce face-to-face contact and increase the experience for guests. It can be said that flexible adaptation while ensuring safety, wise recovery policies such as building and repairing infrastructure and natural resources; opening new flight routes and airlines; measures to preserve and promote culture, … are the highlights of the foundation of the tourism industry to thrive and sustainably.
Vietnam has been making more efforts to improve its tourism position to match its potential and advantages. Recognizing these strengths, Vietnamese need to constantly innovate, improve and develop themselves to be suitable for modern and sustainable domestic tourism.
