Vietnam’s tourism industry has set a target of catering to 110 million tourists in 2023, including 8 million international visitors, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has said.

Total revenue is to reach VND650 trillion ($27.3 billion).

The country catered to 101.3 million tourists this year, including 3.5 million foreigners. Revenues are estimated at VND495 trillion ($20.9 billion), or 23 per cent higher than the annual target.

Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association Cao Tri Dung said the target of welcoming 8 million foreign visitors is perfectly reasonable based on the recovery seen in major markets.

Tourism businesses have actually set higher targets, of welcoming 8-10 million international tourists in 2023 and 14-15 million in 2024.

However, the tourism industry still faces many difficulties and challenges.

At a recent conference with the theme “Economic and business recovery 2022: Solutions to create a breakthrough from the pillar of aviation-tourism services”, analysts proposed urgent solutions for 2023 so that aviation and tourism can fully recover, such as bringing the visa-free list of countries to the same number as Thailand, of 65, extending the number of visa-free days to 30-45 or more, removing the need for Covid-19 treatment insurance, and perfecting policies and mechanisms to facilitate the recovery of tourism by setting up a special working group to restore Vietnam’s international tourism arrivals.

They also recommended strengthening tourism promotion tasks and building tourism products.

According to Mr. Chris Farwell from the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), one of the main reasons for the success of tourism in other countries in the region after re-opening is the increase of the visa-free period to over 30 days for international visitors.

He recommended that quick action and incentives be implemented to entice more tourists, while the government urgently needs to support the tourism industry.