With 85% of local travelers stating they intend to travel in the next 12 months, Vietnam emerged as the second most confident country in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the newly released Travel Confidence Index. 

Vietnamese people excited to travel and confident to welcome international travelers
Young Vietnamese and international travelers alike love to travel to Sapa Town in Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. Photo: Dan Chi

The index indicates that among Asia-Pacific travelers, Vietnamese were among the most willing travelers to put up with and overlook key travel deterrents in order to hit the road – which included enduring disruptions and travel costs; as well as confidence with their home country 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 one to two trips this year (62%). Overall, 45% 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).

Notably, most of them said that they are comfortable with Vietnam opening borders back up (82%), and 75% are confident with welcoming international travelers.

When it comes to travel motivation, the need for a mental wellness retreat emerged as the top motivator to travel for Vietnamese consumers (55%) after two years of lockdowns and a rapidly evolving travel landscape.
A family of foreign travelers enjoys holiday in Vietnam’s central coastal city of Danang. Photo: InterContinental Danang Peninsula Resort 

Interestingly, for as many as 45% 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% would book a trip to visit a specific destination they are interested in, the exact same percentage (32%) would travel simply just to get away from home, regardless of the destination.

Sustainable travel remains important and top of mind

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

In the Asia-Pacific region, Vietnam once again ranked second in the index in terms of intent to travel sustainably, with 83% of respondents agreeing on the importance of making sustainable travel decisions. Among them, 73% are actually willing to pay more during their travels for sustainability, while 70% agree to have less options, as long as they are sustainable. 
A Vietnamese traveler experiences kayaking at Phu Quoc Island, the biggest island in Vietnam. Photo: Bao Nhi

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

With the country slowly shifting toward endemic living with Covid-19, Vietnamese look determined to make up for lost time and are ready to do their part to care for the places they visit – with a few considerations to keep in mind.

Travel Confidence Index was published by Booking.com on June 22 based on an online survey which polled 11,000 individuals from Singapore, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

It aims at tracking the impact of geopolitical and societal diversities of the region, alongside the varied response to the Covid-19 pandemic on overall confidence levels when it comes to restarting travel.

Accordingly, Vietnam emerged as the second most confident with 85% of Vietnamese travelers stating they intend to travel in the next 12 months; second to India (86%) and followed by China (79%). 

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