VietNam: Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

HANOI – VietNam is of increasingly interest to many tourists and many in the retail travel industry are not fully fluent with the country or services available. Travelmole pages have reflected, regularly, concerns people have, both without and within the country, about the travel industry in VietNam.

VietNam is, without a doubt, a unique destination that offers experiences hard to match in such a convenient geographical form populated by a warm, generous people who welcome everyone, without reservation, to share their country.

However, it should be remembered it is a developing country which is not quite ready for prime time lacking the maturity of Thailand as a destination yet more advanced than other regional countries. Since President Bill Clinton ended the economic embargo in 2000, developement has increased remarkably.

Visitor arrivals are down, as Travelmole reported in December, with the Tourism Director of Da Nang suggesting that “services such as hotels, transport businesses and tourist companies should reduce tour prices and provide special treatment to international visitors”.

This comment highlights the lack of understanding even by governmental authorities. Government enterprises are frequently the most expensive and don’t often reduce prices.

Access

VietNam is a good Openjaw destination as most visitors confine their travels between Ha Noi, the capital, and Ho Chi Minh City (SaiGon), the financial and industrial centre. Side trips, from Ha Noi, to Ha Long Bay and Sa Pa are common adjuncts.

In addition to having international air carriers based in VietNam there are many carriers from all parts of the world serving the country through SaiGon, Da Nag and Ha Noi.

Documentation

Visas are required by most visitors and have to be acquired before travelling to VietNam – air carriers often deny boarding to improperly documented passengers to VietNam. Visas can be obtained from embassies and consulates around the world as well as visa agents in VietNam – who often can get approval in a day or two.

Visas obviously are a deterrent to prospective tourists envisaging a spontaneous weekend or casino visit.

Strategy lacking

A coordinated national tourism strategy and guidance by government at all levels. Visitors can be (1) a country tourists want to visit as they might any other; (2) a place to relive old war time experiences; or (3) a business opportunity. Visitors from the first two categories are unlikely to want to visit more than once, a fact supported by government figures.

Administration

The national tourism organisation, VietNam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, has suffered from poor leadership and coupled with a rapid succession of directors, has resulted in unfocussed tourism promotions.

In addition to publishing excellent tourism reviews and newspapers it is also responsible for awarding national ‘star’ ratings to hotel venues which places it in a conflict of interest since many hotels are owned by government!

Government-owned property star ratings are often too liberally awarded, particularly at the provincial level and cannot be relied upon. There are many web sites that have reviews submitted by guests that are more reliable indicators of what properties offer.

Whilst it promotes cultural and historical venues with an even hand – VNATs excellent web sites are a great resource for travel agents – VNAT only appears to promote larger hotels, who already have sufficient resources to finance their own advertising – and practically ignores Standard through 3-star properties.

Most provinces have tourism departments, with web sites in Vietnamese and English and occasionally French and Chinese, complementing their promotional advertising drives.

Conflicts of interest abound at this level of government as most of this class of web sites serve only to promote provincially-owned hotels, most of which were acquired as war-booty, whilst ignoring privately owned hotels, whether Vietnamese or foreign invested.

Government activity

Governments, or government-owned business enterprises, actually compete for the tourist income against the private hotel and tour sectors.

The SaiGonTourist conglomerate, owned by the Ho Chi Minh City government, is a world-class enterprise that owns 54 hotels, 13 resorts, 28 restaurants, casinos, and property developement companies and 8 travel service companies.

It is also in land transportation, cable television, shopping, exhibition and convention centres, food & beverage, travel, recreation, trading, import-export, duty free shops, transport, construction, tourism & hospitality training, food production & processing.

It has also has more than 50 local public-private business joint ventures. It is capitalised to about US$172,000,000.

Ho Chi Minh City also has other holding companies that administer many other hotels and travel-related properties.

Investment

Both the national and provincial governments actively encourage foreign invest in travel related properties. Because of the lack of a national strategy, some of the investments are of questionable value and duplicate attractions that are available in adjoining countries and unlikely attract visitors to visit VietNam because of them.

Perversely, a Vietnamese group has just announced a USD$1-billion investment in Laos to develope a resort and hotel complex.

Tomorrow: Hotels and Transportation