Hanoi (VNA) – A lot of things need to be done to attract foreign travelers to Vietnam and persuade them to spend more money here, insiders said.

In addition to popularising the country’s image, it is essential for Vietnam to improve infrastructure as well as the quality of its human resources and services.

🧔 Vietnam is one of the 10 cheapest places to travel in Asia in 2023, according to the famous international travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller.

Meanwhile, Australia's Traveler magazine also hailed Vietnam as one of the cheapest travel destinations in Asia, as visitors need to pay only less than 2 USD for a beer or coffee.

Canada’s travel website The Travel, and even the Escape of Australia also affirmed that Vietnam is an ideal budget destination in Asia.

෴ According to Nuno F. Ribeiro from RMIT University, the media plays a big role in attracting international visitors to Vietnam. Popularising the country’s image as an interesting and beautiful destination is important, he said, adding but showing it is a valuable destination is even more.

Associate Professor Pham Trung Luong, a member of the Tourism Advisory Council, said Vietnam is not inferior to other countries in the region. Vietnam boasts eight tangible and 15 intangible heritages, along with 11 world biosphere reserves, and is considered a safe and friendly destination, he said, elaborating that this is a foundation to build different tourism products, contributing to elevating the country’s image. Tran Nguyen, Deputy General Director of Sun World, the entertainment brand of Sun Group, agreed, saying that with rich resources, Vietnam deserves to be a destination that tourists spend the most, not a cheap place to visit. Experts say that in order to enhance the image of national tourism as well as turn Vietnam into a destination of choice for high-end customers, it is a must for businesses to convince customers with attractive options, a combination of new experiences and a service chain. Travel firms can sell tours that are not too expensive but attractive so that tourists will be ready to loosen the string of their purse to experience high-end services such as spa, health care, dining, shopping and entertainment served in a professional manner. That is a way for clients to voluntarily pay high for a vacation in Vietnam, they went on. Ribeiro suggested that an immediate and easiest solution is to air 5-minute promotional videos on flights for international visitors to Vietnam, helping them imagine about the experience they may get from the unique landscapes and culture of the country, adding that New Zealand and Australia are good examples. He held that footages not only give visitors more interesting experiences but also enable them to have an idea of returning to the country, right before they set foot on Vietnam. According to experts, developing the "night economy" is necessary to lengthen visitors’ stay and increase their spending because they go sightseeing during the day and night is the time for them to spend heavily on shopping. To create trust as well as provide the most accurate information, it is necessary to have a representative office of the state management agency in charge of Vietnam tourism abroad. Although the country used to have representative offices in Japan and the UK, their operation was not really effective, they noted. Ribeiro also highlighted the need to spend more to promote the image of Vietnam. In fact, Vietnam is spending about 2 million USD on tourism promotion, equal to 2.9% of that of Thailand and 2.5% of Singapore. A medium-term solution raised by experts is to improve infrastructure as well as quality of service and human resources. In the long term, it is essential to solve the problem of pollution, including noise and air pollution, contributing to improving the image of Vietnam's destinations, they added./.