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From WIRE REPORTS
The national tourism administration cites “pleasant” figures for 2012, but most stakeholders ― travel firms, transportation companies and hotels ― are wearing glum expressions.
Latest statistics from the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) showed that about 4.17 million foreign tourists visited the country last year, up 14.2 percent from the year before, while local tourists increased 8.3 percent at 32.5 million.
Overall, tourism revenues rose 23 percent to reach $7.59 billion, the agency said.
VNAT chief Nguyen Van Tuan was quoted by Van Hoa (Culture) Online ― the news website of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ― as saying: “The figures that the national tourism industry achieved last year were pleasant, given that both the local and world economies faced many difficulties.”
However, a Vietweek survey among some 20 travel companies, transport firms and hotels in Ha Noi and Sai Gon found that most of them have been scaling down operations after sales dropped significantly.
In Ha Noi, for example, Net Dep Dong Duong (Indochina Beauty), an international travel company, moved its headquarters from a three-story building in the center of Ba Dinh District to a nearby office building in July.
A company representative said the move has helped them reduce one-third of its rental expense of $1,900 a month. It also has let go 30 percent of its employees and stopped participating in international festivals.
Explaining the adjustments, the representative told Vietweek that the number of its foreign customers decreased by 25 percent last year, as French and German tourists, who usually booked 12-to-14 day tours and stayed at three- and four-star hotels, went down “sharply.”
The number was down 20 percent in 2011, the representative said.
In Sai Gon, Phan Dinh Hue, director of the Vong Tron Viet (Vietcircle) Tourism Company, said nearly 50 percent of its employees have been dismissed, also because the number of European and American tourists fell 30 percent, while there was a 40 percent drop in local tourists.
The company recently leased most of its large building to save on expenses.
Meanwhile, Tran Van Long, director of Viet Media Travel Company, said “obviously” due to the financial crisis, foreign customers booking tours at his company reduced by at least 30 percent last year from the year before.
Domino effect
As travel companies saw their sales fall, other related businesses suffered as well.
Speaking to Vietweek, Nguyen Kien Cuong, director of the Tuan Minh Trade and Tourism Company, which specializes in taking European and Japanese tourists around Ha Noi, said his company’s sales had dipped sharply as well.
He said orders for tourist transportation between October 2012 and this April from the company’s regular customers ― 10 international travel companies ― decreased by more than 40 percent, even though it was prime time for European and American travelers.
It was the same for the Japanese market as there was almost no order for transporting Japanese tourists last year, Cuong said. He expected no improvement during the first two months of this year, although Japanese usually visit northern Viet Nam at this time.
Cuong’s company moved its headquarters from the center of Hoan Kiem District last year to his house and paid no bonus to employees, following a drop of 30 percent in sales in 2011 compared to the previous year.
The director also said that he planned to sell several buses and cars, following other companies that have already sold up to half of their vehicles.
Tao Van Nghe, chairman of the Sai Gon Hotel Association, said many local hotels were able to achieve only 70 to 80 percent of their targeted sales last year, and so far the situation has “not improved.”
While the slump in Viet Nam’s tourism is partly because of the world economic crisis, it is also because the country’s competitiveness is very poor, Nghe said.
Its tour prices are too high compared to other countries in the Southeast Asia, Nghe said, expressing concern that Viet Nam will become a “much less attractive destination,” with several price hikes planned for this year, including visa fees.
Under a decree issued by the Finance Ministry, the cost of all visas to Viet Nam has gone up by $15 since Jan. 1. The new visa prices range from $45 to $135.
