Vietnam could be home to next travel startup unicorn

By Tuan Hoang   December 13, 2018 | 12:06 am PT
Vietnam could be home to next travel startup unicorn
The Golden Bridge is in Da Nang City's Ba Na Hills, supported by a pair of giant hands. Photo by Vo Van Hoang/Shutterstock.
Travel Daily Media has ranked Vietnam third in its top five underrated Asian markets for travel startups.

"Vietnam is a country that cannot be ignored as it is one of the fastest growing markets in the region. They say that Vietnam is the new Thailand as the latter is slowly joining the ranks of Singapore and Hong Kong," Travel Daily Media wrote in a recent report.

The site also said that the start-up ecosystem is not yet developed in Vietnam.

Travel Daily Media is a website "dedicated to informing, connecting and developing the world’s travel industry professionals."

"The start-up ecosystem is still in the infancy stage. It was in 2016 when the country experienced high-speed growth. The increase of start-ups was made possible with a good telecommunications system, the Internet, 4G, and the improvement of technology and education."

The ecosystem has also been driven by Vietnamese who study overseas and return. "Although the market is still young, it only promises incredible growth in years to come," the report said.

View of busy river in ancient city Hoi An. Photo by Romas/Shutterstock.

View of busy river in ancient town Hoi An in Central Vietnam. Photo by Romas/Shutterstock.

The Philippines topped the list of underrated Asian markets for travel startups, followed by Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Israel.

Vietnam attracted a record 14 million foreign tourists in the first 11 months of this year, up 21 percent year-on-year. The number could go as high as 15 million for the whole year, according to the General Statistics Office. The total number of foreign arrivals last year was 12.9 million.

With visa waivers for several countries in Asia and Europe, the tourism industry hopes to welcome 17-20 million foreign visitors.

It expects to earn $35 billion in revenues per year by 2020, contributing 10 percent to the country’s GDP, compared to the current 7.5 percent.

A global report published last month by the United Nations World Tourism Organization ranked Vietnam’s tourism growth as fourth highest in the world.

An aerial view of Vietnam:

 
 
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