China Duty Free, IPPG to open stores to serve Chinese tourists in Vietnam

By Thi Ha March 31, 2024 | 10:39 pm PT

Chinese tourists visit the Saigon Central Post Office in downtown HCMC, June 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

China Duty Free, owned by state-owned travel company China Tourism, has signed a deal with conglomerate Imex Pan Pacific Group to open three duty-free shops in Vietnam to attract Chinese tourists.

The first will be opened in the northern city of Mong Cai in Quang Ninh Province near the China border this year, Jonathan Hanh Nguyen, chairman of Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPPG), said.

The second will open next year in the beach city of Nha Trang of Khanh Hoa Province and the third in downtown HCMC at an unspecified date.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic HCMC and Khanh Hoa and Quang Ninh provinces were top destinations for Chinese tourists.

This year Vietnam eyes 18 million foreign arrivals, the same as the figure in 2019, the year before the pandemic, and tourism revenues of US$34 billion.

China was the largest source of tourists for Vietnam before Covid.

In 2019 it had received 5.8 million Chinese tourists, or 30% all foreign arrivals.

In the first quarter of this year Vietnam received 890,000 visitors from China, an increase of 635% from the same period last year.

According to a survey done by Hotels.com, Chinese travelers spend an average of $930 abroad, 58% of it on shopping, especially high-end products.