Vietnamese scenery could beat Thailand, but tourism fails

"Whenever my foreign friends ask me where they can have fun in Hanoi, or any place in Vietnam, I don’t have a good answer. Foreigners often spend 10 days in Vietnam, and they cannot find enough activities to fully experience the country during that time. For example, they want to visit Ngoc Son Temple after taking a walk around Sword Lake, but they can't after the temple closes at 5:30 p.m., like many other historical places in Hanoi. Meanwhile, many places are too boring to visit twice. The road system is not good enough for them to travel between different places in Vietnam. As a result, though I am immensely proud of Vietnam’s sceneries, I am not confident introducing them to my foreign friends."
Lyn

"Thailand can make tourists willing to spend money on artificial sceneries, while many magnificent natural sceneries in Vietnam still fail to attract visitors."
Dan den

"Thailand sets a different tourism mindset than Vietnam. It focuses on making tourists spend money, by providing a diversity of shopping and entertainment activities. Vietnam meanwhile focuses on offering beautiful landscapes, but has failed to make them attractive enough for tourists to spend money on."
jincrush

"I have traveled to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, and I can say Vietnamese natural beauty is better than all of them. Vietnamese food is also better and more diverse. Vietnam is actually a place for tourism experiences, while Malaysia and Singapore are for shopping and Thailand for entertainment. However, Vietnam needs to improve its services, and stop discrimination against foreign tourists (in term of prices)."
R_D

"We cannot and do not have to copy Thailand or Singapore, because we will lose. Thailand and Singapore have been known for their bar clubs and casinos, so Vietnam needs to promote its tourism differently, focusing on its advantages, which are sceneries and friendly people. We need more experienced tour guides who are good with foreign languages to help them integrate more easily into the local culture."
luongtan1997