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Vietnamese travelers are in the top 3 most ready to travel again in APAC

According to the Travel Confidence Index commissioned by leading online travel company Booking.com, which polled 11,000 travelers from 11 countries and territories¹ across Asia and Oceania between April and May 2022, Vietnam emerged as the second most confident with 85 percent of Vietnamese travelers stating they intend to travel in the next 12 months; second to India (86 percent) and followed by China (79 percent).

This indicates that among APAC travelers, Vietnamese were one of the most willing travelers to put up with and/or overlook key travel deterrents in order to hit the road - which included enduring disruptions and travel costs; as well as confidence with their home countries/territories in receiving inbound travelers. This signifies great potentials for domestic tourism to leverage in its next era of growth.

The majority of Vietnamese travelers plan to book 1 – 2 trips this year (62 percent). Overall 45 percent of respondents stated that they planned to take regional trips (of up to 8 hours) to popular holiday destinations closer to home, instead of short (less than 3 hours) and long hauls (over 8 hours of travel time).

Another highlight from the research is that the majority of Vietnamese respondents are comfortable with Vietnam opening borders back up (82 percent), and 75 percent are confident with welcoming international travelers.



Top travel motivators

When it comes to travel motivation, the need for a mental wellness retreat (55 percent) emerged as the top motivator to travel for Vietnamese consumers after two years of lockdowns and a rapidly evolving travel landscape.

Interestingly, for as many as 45 percent of respondents, the motivation behind these trips is because they have planned for them for a long time, since before the pandemic, and now it’s finally time to hit the road! While 32 percent would book a trip to visit a specific destination they are interested in, the exact same percentage (32 percent) would travel simply just to get away from home, regardless of the destination.

Top travel deterrents

When asked about their top concerns and what would prevent them from booking a trip, ‘cost’ was listed as the number one deterrent by 53 percent of all respondents. However, it is clear that uncertainty due to the constantly evolving Covid-19 situation continues to plague travelers, as this was followed by the ‘fear of having to undergo quarantine’ (36 percent) and the possibility of falling ill whilst traveling (32 percent).

Another top concern for Vietnamese travelers is the processes and administrative hassles involved in planning a trip, which has increased in complexity with Covid-19 (31 percent). However, when asked whether travelers accepted disruptions as being part and parcel of travel now, almost half of Vietnamese respondents said yes, meaning that people are embracing these essential changes in order to travel.

Sustainable travel remains important & top of mind

According to Booking.com’s 2022 Sustainable Travel Report, 81 percent of global travelers affirm that sustainable travel is important to them, with 50 percent stating that recent news about climate change has influenced them to make more sustainable travel choices.

In APAC, Vietnam once again ranked second in the index in terms of intent to travel sustainably, with 83 percent of respondents agreeing on the importance of making sustainable travel decisions. Among them, 73 percent are actually willing to pay more during their travels for sustainability, while 70 percent agree to have less options, as long as they are sustainable.

In their upcoming travels, it is clear that Vietnamese travelers will be much more mindful about their environmental and societal impacts, with 71 percent emphasizing eating locally-sourced food in their accommodation, followed by 65 percent wanting to join tours and activities organized by locals, or as simple as bringing reusable bottles (52 percent) and turning off the AC in their hotel rooms (41 percent).

Mai Ca


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