Tourism in vietnam

Allanmta wrote:

Hello,

The news shows that tourism has been on the decline for the past few years.  The main cause of the of the decline in tourism appears to be :
- visa application complication and cost
- petty crime against tourists
- high accommodation costs

People seem to be choosing thailand over vietnam for the same reasons.

As expats or currentlyresiding in vn, are you seeing the same thing. What are your thoughts on tourism for the next couple of years for vn.

A number of people have commented on this matter recently on another thread. Until the Vietnamese authorities realise that tourist aren't all just sheep to be sheared of their cash and sent on their way, not much will change.

The police need to change radically; the authorities need to get a grip of the beggars and street thieves; traffic calming measures are needed; stop motorcycles using the side walks and blocking them when parking; rogue taxis need eradicating; the airport arrivals outside the doors is chaos.

Vietnam is simply not tourist oriented. Service in many restaurants is bloody awful. In one place recently I saw a waitress cutting her toenails and then serving food 

I live here and I am not a tourists so have a different outlook the place, but I can see clearly why people don't want to come here - and why they don't want to come back.

The first thing to do is get the police at borders and entry points to be civil, no smiling,no acknowledgement and throwing your passport at you is just the start of a poorly run system.

Interesting to see if the defenders of tourism show up, last time once shown articles from local tour operators at how bad things really are, they didn't respond.

BTW - visas are now available for most nationalities on arrival, so thats a bit of an improvement.

I went to Cambodia through Moc Bai last weekend, coming back into Viet Nam was horrendous.  Two guys working, hundreds of people waiting, the fans were turned off to make people who didn't want to stand around in the 40 degree heat to cough up some backs and pass through quickly,disgusting greedy animals.

colinoscapee wrote:

I went to Cambodia through Moc Bai last weekend, coming back into Viet Nam was horrendous.  Two guys working, hundreds of people waiting, the fans were turned off to make people who didn't want to stand around in the 40 degree heat to cough up some backs and pass through quickly,disgusting greedy animals.

I experienced that as well. They purposely hold up the line until you give in and tip them.

It is very sad to see this.  I love vietnam and would to see the country improve in this area. I talk to manyvietnamese in canada/us and i am getting the same message,  that they do not like vietnam for the same reason. Even our own people don't even want to come back home.

When you pay a lot of money to get these jobs, you want to get a return. It's things like this that are some tourists first impression of Viet Nam. It won't change, the mentality won't change for a few generations yet.

Annual budget for promoting tourism VN is $2M.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davisbrett/ … 4f39f210ca

Yoda0807 wrote:

Annual budget for promoting tourism VN is $2M.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davisbrett/ … 4f39f210ca

f

You dont get too much advertising for 2 million bucks.

But you can get a lot of beer!

My wife has a Masters in Tourism development and she told me several years ago that it was like trying to resurrect a dead body, so she went to work for FV Hospital instead.

colinoscapee wrote:

I went to Cambodia through Moc Bai last weekend, coming back into Viet Nam was horrendous.  Two guys working, hundreds of people waiting, the fans were turned off to make people who didn't want to stand around in the 40 degree heat to cough up some backs and pass through quickly,disgusting greedy animals.

What a disgrace.    I wonder what the Ministry of Tourism here would say if they had that notified to them.

I had an unsavoury incident a few years back , reported it and they actually replied, and apologised. " sorry for that happen to you."   International embarrassment through the media is what they fear.

I wonder how many of them have heard about ROBOTICS.....the machines are coming kiddies.
Adidas is already pulling out of China.  Over one million cobblers out of work.  NIke is following them.
Adidas have a robotics plant that can make the shoes in Germany.

I won't be long before most of the multi nationals will have bailed out.  It will be a lot sooner than people think.      Some of these countries in Asia enjoy 80% of their FDI from multi national export manufacturing .

Take that away, oils tanked & its a massive  contibuter to VN Gdp , things here could get a bit shakey.

Maybe they better start lifting their game with Tourism.

Maybe. Maybe not.

They are wrestling with large scale coastal  pollution too now - I loved the comment on TV from the Vietnamese manager of the Taiwan steel company that allegedly caused the pollution: "Well whaddaya want, fish or jobs?"

I can't see many people wanting to visit the central Vietnam coast now - and the pollution is also affecting deep water fish.

The hotels are doing their bit and I have stayed in some lovely small hotels which are clean and well appointed but outside of that there seems little interest being shown by the authorities.

Oh yeah ....
That water pollution isn't doing them any favours.

I noticed they found 30 tons of mackerel fish containing unacceptable levels of Phenol/ .carbolic acid at a fish wholesaler south of Da Nang.

I suppose a bit of sweet chilli sauce and a pinch of salt could help mask it.

My local friend here said to,be careful with seafood.   He seemed to think they'll be using the tons of dead fish washed up on the beaches to make fish sauce.   

Tasty.

I suppose a bit of sweet chilli sauce and a pinch of salt could help mask it.   Don't forget the peanuts and soy

Luckily I don't like fish, so I generally avoid it unless I am somewhere like the Solomon Islands or Tuvalu.

eodmatt wrote:

Allanmta wrote:

Hello,

The news shows that tourism has been on the decline for the past few years.  The main cause of the of the decline in tourism appears to be :
- visa application complication and cost
- petty crime against tourists
- high accommodation costs

People seem to be choosing thailand over vietnam for the same reasons.

As expats or currentlyresiding in vn, are you seeing the same thing. What are your thoughts on tourism for the next couple of years for vn.

A number of people have commented on this matter recently on another thread. Until the Vietnamese authorities realise that tourist aren't all just sheep to be sheared of their cash and sent on their way, not much will change.

The police need to change radically; the authorities need to get a grip of the beggars and street thieves; traffic calming measures are needed; stop motorcycles using the side walks and blocking them when parking; rogue taxis need eradicating; the airport arrivals outside the doors is chaos.

Vietnam is simply not tourist oriented. Service in many restaurants is bloody awful. In one place recently I saw a waitress cutting her toenails and then serving food 

I live here and I am not a tourists so have a different outlook the place, but I can see clearly why people don't want to come here - and why they don't want to come back.

Sir bottom up is the way to go, if one cares enough to make change the way they look at it, then I believe a gradual change in the past scars could eventually heal them. Pain makes people their systems bitter, pain makes us all bitter

Yogi007 wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

I went to Cambodia through Moc Bai last weekend, coming back into Viet Nam was horrendous.  Two guys working, hundreds of people waiting, the fans were turned off to make people who didn't want to stand around in the 40 degree heat to cough up some backs and pass through quickly,disgusting greedy animals.

What a disgrace.    I wonder what the Ministry of Tourism here would say if they had that notified to them.

I had an unsavoury incident a few years back , reported it and they actually replied, and apologised. " sorry for that happen to you."   International embarrassment through the media is what they fear.

I wonder how many of them have heard about ROBOTICS.....the machines are coming kiddies.
Adidas is already pulling out of China.  Over one million cobblers out of work.  NIke is following them.
Adidas have a robotics plant that can make the shoes in Germany.

I won't be long before most of the multi nationals will have bailed out.  It will be a lot sooner than people think.      Some of these countries in Asia enjoy 80% of their FDI from multi national export manufacturing .

Take that away, oils tanked & its a massive  contibuter to VN Gdp , things here could get a bit shakey.

Maybe they better start lifting their game with Tourism.

The guys and gals at the very top know exactly what's happening, they generally won't do anything as it may affect a family member or friend. The cronyism and nepotism is just out of control here.

colinoscapee wrote:

Yogi007 wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

I went to Cambodia through Moc Bai last weekend, coming back into Viet Nam was horrendous.  Two guys working, hundreds of people waiting, the fans were turned off to make people who didn't want to stand around in the 40 degree heat to cough up some backs and pass through quickly,disgusting greedy animals.

What a disgrace.    I wonder what the Ministry of Tourism here would say if they had that notified to them.

I had an unsavoury incident a few years back , reported it and they actually replied, and apologised. " sorry for that happen to you."   International embarrassment through the media is what they fear.

I wonder how many of them have heard about ROBOTICS.....the machines are coming kiddies.
Adidas is already pulling out of China.  Over one million cobblers out of work.  NIke is following them.
Adidas have a robotics plant that can make the shoes in Germany.

I won't be long before most of the multi nationals will have bailed out.  It will be a lot sooner than people think.      Some of these countries in Asia enjoy 80% of their FDI from multi national export manufacturing .

Take that away, oils tanked & its a massive  contibuter to VN Gdp , things here could get a bit shakey.

Maybe they better start lifting their game with Tourism.

The guys and gals at the very top know exactly what's happening, they generally won't do anything as it may affect a family member or friend. The cronyism and nepotism is just out of control here.

Not to mention the kickbacks ....

Everything that you guys have written is completely correct, we are Australian but my wife was born in Vn.
We travel to Vn frequently so have a view from each side.
The things we notice and hear from our friends who have holidayed in Vn are similar. The look at Passport control puts you off immediately, taxis, only use green and white but the biggest issue other than the matters already discussed is the price of accomodation, we tend to stay with the same hotels when we travel but have had to find cheaper, we are arriving in Vn shortly, initially staying in My Tho before travelling to Europe. Accomodation in Europe is actually cheaper than Vn for comparable hotels. A classic example is the Silverland group who are obviously trying to get rich quick, we used to stay with them for around $60 a night, then it became $85 night, last year over a $100. We notice that there prices have really dropped this year but the damage is done. Airbnb have contributed to the problem, with numerous young people making there cut and encouraging the owners to ask for more. Last year we wanted to rent a house or unit for a month in Danang, Airbnb were quoting prices that were ridiculous and we texted a number of times with them, we said that they will catch some tourists once but not twice. We negotiated with the Song Cong Hotel through our friends in Hoi an and were looked after really well for half the price.
What are your thoughts...

Allanmta wrote:

... People seem to be choosing thailand over vietnam for the same reasons. As expats or currently residing in vn, are you seeing the same thing. What are your thoughts on tourism for the next couple of years for vn.

OTOH... I don't disagree that the government isn't doing its best to promote the country. The visa fee should be dropped altogether, people love 'free', they would get hoards of visitors. Maybe too many backpackers tho! (Sorry if I triggered any).

But I've seen a lot of western news and travel stories in the last year that claim Vietnam is the cool place to visit [along with ex-British colonies Sri Lanka/Ceylon and Myanmar/Burma]. There have been improvements to some European and American visa policies. There is talk of hiring Helpful Tourist Police in Saigon. TPP is dead now but that was bringing in some institutional changes. Russian and Chinese have had their own economic reasons to travel less. Maybe Brits and Euros will feel poorer this year and do staycations.

Opinion: I think tourists who complain often have unrealistic expectations of 3rd world countries. Vietnam is not Singapore or Bangkok or Hong Kong. Personally I prefer visiting places that have not 'western modernized' so much; they still have historical charm, funny smells, ethnic dress, weird food, and yes, petty crime. Poverty is not pretty. Need safe space? Stay home.

Thailand really? It has long been the quintessential tropical paradise of the world, for westerners to start a new beautiful life. But now? It is getting lots of scare press for tourist murders and beatings. Ongoing violence in muslim south provinces. I am here for 6 months, I just did a visa run, all the expats complained about newest visa policies and miss the old days. The economy is caving. A lot of personal freedoms are risky now, like I am self-censoring as I blog this comment. I will have to check the tourism trend stats.

The sinking of the boat in Danang highlights a big problem in VN, the people in charge of safety and executing the laws just aren't doing there job. Look at Halong Bay, how many boats have sunk or burnt, only to find out they weren't licensed. VN could have a great tourism industry, but the mindset of many in it must change.

Exactly !!  What Matt said. And I'd add curb the double pricing, and stop cutting pedestrians off with motos, and STOP friggin EYEBALLING our every moves  lol

Ahh now thats interesting - They don't do it to each other as it's considered impolite. But they will eyeball foreigners to the point of total rudeness and will often start picking their noses at the same time. They simply don't realise that in many cultures, it is considered a threat - or maybe they don't care. Better educated people don't do it as much though.

The visa free entry for various nationalities that gave a 15 day stay for Brits etc. was implemented for only one year and expires at the end of this month. As at today IT HAS NOT BEEN RENEWED!.

From this the whole tourist situation has taken a major backward step!

jpbsimpson wrote:

The visa free entry for various nationalities that gave a 15 day stay for Brits etc. was implemented for only one year and expires at the end of this month. As at today IT HAS NOT BEEN RENEWED!.

From this the whole tourist situation has taken a major backward step!

Interesting, it seems they just can't let go of those Uncle Hos' and things will revert back to how they were before.

This is what we would call a first world "problem" but it's on topic.

My family just came home after three days at a resort hotel in Ho Tram. We had a great time. The beach was fine and the swimming pool complex was fantastic for the kids. Now, to the point, pool side towels ran out on our first day. Next morning, the prior days used towels were still piled on a trolley between the kiosk and the pool supervisors area. Staff said new towels were coming. Nothing. Same the next morning. Trolley still sitting there with dirty towels piled up. Final day, by now room towels are scarce because they are soiled after use by the pool. One last swim, trolley of old towels still sitting there. We made 5 approaches to staff over the period. No towels.

Room rates were not cheap, compared to other cities or countries.

What is a tourist to make of this? 

I think tourism will continue to grow here to serve an expanding local customer base that presently has low awareness of normal, commercial hospitality standards.

Thailand provides a more relaxing holiday experience for similar cost.

If holidaying in Vietnam, try to stay in one of the brand international hotel chains (and expect fresh towels daily)