South Koreans, Japanese lack information about Vietnam

Only 18% of South Koreans said that they were confident in their knowledge about Vietnam, while 62% of Japanese and 63% of Taiwanese said they knew a relative amount about the Southeast Asian country, according to the survey results released by tourism development consulting firm Outbox Company.

The survey was carried out late last year among more than 2,000 people in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Last year, South Korea sent the highest number of visitors to Vietnam, over 800,000, while Japan and Taiwan were also in the country's top 10 tourism feeder markets.

The report indicated that tourists from Northeast Asian countries "have not really understood or have not been impressed with" Vietnam.

Visitors search for tourist information mainly through blogs, travel websites and other online sources. They are rarely informed by large-scale advertising and communication campaigns.

"The level of awareness is very important because it will affect tourists' decision to choose a destination. Therefore, we need to further strengthen tourism promotion campaigns," said Dang Manh Phuoc, CEO of The Outbox Company.

Vietnam only received 3.6 million foreign tourists last year, but revenues for the whole tourism industry were worth VND495 trillion (US$21 billion), or 23% above the 2022 target, as a domestic tourism boom took up the slack.

This year, Vietnam targets 8 million foreign arrivals.

Tourism insiders have said that a lack of friendly visa policies and tourism promotion campaigns have put Vietnam behind other Southeast Asian countries in the post-lockdown tourism recovery race.