Wooing Vietnamese visitors gets trickier
Supakan Yodchun, director of TAT's Ho Chi Minh City office, said the total number of seats on all routes between Thailand and Vietnam dropped by 10% to 2.34 million in 2024, compared with 2.6 million in 2023.
The trend has continued this year, with seat capacity down by 12% and falling short of the level recorded in 2019, she said.
Mrs Supakan said Tan Son Nhat airport recently opened Terminal 3 for domestic flights, prompting Vietnamese airlines to relocate around 40 aircraft to support domestic tourism.
Domestic tourists in Vietnam tallied 110 million in 2024 and the number is projected to hit 120-130 million this year.
"A surge in international arrivals made the Vietnamese proud of their tourism industry as an economic driver. Many now prioritise domestic travel over going abroad," she said.
In 2024, Vietnam earned about 840 trillion Vietnamese dong, or around 1 trillion baht, from tourism, up 23.8% year-on-year, from 17.5 million foreign visitors.
In 2025, it aims to increase revenue by 16.7–25% to 980–1,050 trillion dong from 22-23 million tourists.
Mrs Supakan said another challenge is administrative restructuring that took place in Vietnam last month, which consolidated all the country's provinces from 63 to 34, while ministries and departments were merged from 22 to 17. Taxation was also reformed, including corporate and personal income taxes.
These changes disrupted decision-making for overseas trips, as bureaucrats were advised to refrain from international travel during the transition, while general tourists preferred to wait and see how the changes would affect their finances.
Regarding competitors, Mrs Supakan said China has emerged as a rising destination, thanks to 460 weekly flights connecting people with places beyond the major cities. China also offers affordable packages to attract prospective visitors from Vietnam.
"Although Thailand remained the second most popular overseas destination for Vietnamese travellers in the first half of 2025, they are increasingly concerned about safety issues. This market is quite sensitive to negative news reports about Thailand," she said.
Mrs Supakan said Vietnam still holds strong growth potential, with a population of 101.4 million, including 32.9 million in the median age group.
Average monthly income in the country stood at 8.3 million dong, or 10,239 baht, growing 8.6% year-on-year as of the first quarter. Urban residents earned an average of 10 million dong, or 12,337 baht.
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Wooing Vietnamese visitors gets trickier
While tourism in Vietnam is booming, Thailand is facing challenges in attracting Vietnamese tourists as Vietnam's carriers have relocated aircraft from their fleets to serve the domestic tourism industry, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Supakan Yodchun, director of TAT's Ho Chi Minh City office, said the total number of seats on all routes between Thailand and Vietnam dropped by 10% to 2.34 million in 2024, compared with 2.6 million in 2023. The trend has continued this year, with seat capacity down by 12% and falling short of the level recorded in 2019, she said. Mrs Supakan said Tan Son Nhat airport recently opened Terminal 3 for domestic flights, prompting Vietnamese airlines to relocate around 40 aircraft to support domestic tourism. Domestic tourists in Vietnam tallied 110 million in 2024 and the number is projected to hit 120-130 million this year. "A surge in international arrivals made the Vietnamese proud of their tourism industry as an economic driver. Many now prioritise domestic travel over going abroad," she said. In 2024, Vietnam earned about 840 trillion Vietnamese dong, or around 1 trillion baht, from tourism, up 23.8% year-on-year, from 17.5 million foreign visitors. In 2025, it aims to increase revenue by 16.7–25% to 980–1,050 trillion dong from 22-23 million tourists. Mrs Supakan said another challenge is administrative restructuring that took place in Vietnam last month, which consolidated all the country's provinces from 63 to 34, while ministries and departments were merged from 22 to 17. Taxation was also reformed, including corporate and personal income taxes. These changes disrupted decision-making for overseas trips, as bureaucrats were advised to refrain from international travel during the transition, while general tourists preferred to wait and see how the changes would affect their finances. Regarding competitors, Mrs Supakan said China has emerged as a rising destination, thanks to 460 weekly flights connecting people with places beyond the major cities. China also offers affordable packages to attract prospective visitors from Vietnam. "Although Thailand remained the second most popular overseas destination for Vietnamese travellers in the first half of 2025, they are increasingly concerned about safety issues. This market is quite sensitive to negative news reports about Thailand," she said. Mrs Supakan said Vietnam still holds strong growth potential, with a population of 101.4 million, including 32.9 million in the median age group. Average monthly income in the country stood at 8.3 million dong, or 10,239 baht, growing 8.6% year-on-year as of the first quarter. Urban residents earned an average of 10 million dong, or 12,337 baht.
