Vietnam reopened its tourism market on March 15, 2022, creating favorable conditions for tourists to return. In 2022, the country received nearly 3.7 million foreign travelers, or 23.3 times more than the year before. However, the figure was only 20 percent of that of 2019, before the pandemic outbreak.

The foreign tourists with the highest spending level in Vietnam were Filipinos who doubled their spending when traveling to Vietnam, from $1,124 in 2017 to $2,257 in 2019.

The next highest spenders were travelers from Belgium, who spent $1,995, the US with $1,709, Australia $1,416, Denmark $1,383, Norway $1,346, the Netherlands $1,317, Canada $1,315, the UK $1,212, and Germany $1,283.

The travelers who spent the least amount of money in Vietnam, according to the Statistical Yearbook 2022, were from Laos with $343.5 per traveler, Cambodia with $734.9, Indonesia with $804.9, and South Korea with $838.4.

As reported by GSO, the average spending per traveler to Vietnam increased slightly from $1,141 in 2017 to $1,151 in 2019.

Of the expense items, hotel rooms accounted for the highest proportion (over 30 percent, or $347). The figure was lower than the $360 (31.6 percent) reported in 2017.

The second biggest expense was for eating and drinking, which accounted for 21.9 percent ($251), followed by travel costs (16 percent, $184), excursion fees (9 percent, $103) and shopping (12.4 percent, $142).

Vietnam plans to welcome 8 million foreign tourists and earn VND650 trillion in revenue from tourism in 2023. In the first half of the year, it received 5.6 million travelers, or 70 percent of the plan. South Korea was the biggest market with 1.6 million travelers, while the Chinese market recovered by 22.4 percent as it began resuming tours to Vietnam from March 15, 2023.

Tran Thuong