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ASEAN and
THE Mekong REGION
SURGE
IN ARRIVALS FROM VIETNAM
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A bilateral visa-waiver agreement
between Vietnam and Thailand is one of the primary reasons
for making Vietnam one of Thailand’s fastest growing sources
of visitor arrivals.
Visitors have almost doubled in two years, from 56,959 in 2000
to 80,071 in 2001 and 97,996 in 2002, making it the fastest
growing market amongst ASEAN countries. Bilateral trade and
investment is also on the rise.
There are 67 flights between the two countries by THAI, Vietnam
Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa and PB Air. Outbound Thais
to Vietnam are also rising, from 21,851 in 2000 to 39,092.
This adds to the overall profitability of the routes and gives
airlines an incentive to boost capacity. Recently, Lufthansa
announced that it was re-instating thrice weekly flights from
Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City.
The profile of Vietnamese visitors to Thailand in 2002 showed
some interesting trends:
• An average length of stay of 6.02 days and an average daily
expenditure of 3,873 baht, even higher than the 3,222 baht
average daily expenditure of the Europeans.
• A strong rise of 36.76% in first-time visitors to 54,490.
• In line with that, arrivals as part of a group tour totalled
49,855 or +39.57%.
• Independent visitors rose by 8.55% to 48,141 in the same
period.
• Vietnam is a good low-season market. Its peak outbound season
falls in the summer months of July-August, when there is a
surge in arrivals to Thailand.
• Convention delegates were up by 53.32% to 4,572 in 2002.
TAT surveyed the Vietnamese market in 2002 and found that Vietnamese
like to travel to Thailand because of its “many beautiful places,
famous landscape, delicious cuisine, and strong images of both
the Buddhist religion and Western culture.”
Vietnamese travellers like to shop, visit historical places
and experience Thai culture and traditions. Most of the shopping
is for clothes, shoes and souvenirs. This is because the diversity
of product availability in Thailand is better than in Vietnam,
the survey showed.
Among other conclusions of the survey:
• Vietnamese travellers like the nightlife in Thailand.
• Thailand is considered a good family destination due to good
sight-seeing opportunities, friendly people, beautiful beaches,
“great food and drink”, all of which can help them enjoy their
time with friends and family.
• Many Vietnamese visitors are married couples and colleagues
travelling together.
• Thailand is considered a good place for Vietnamese businesses
to hold their meetings and incentives because it is only a
short distance away and much less expensive than Europe or
America. They also see Thailand as an appropriate place to
set up branch offices for their businesses.
• Word of mouth is a powerful factor in influencing Vietnamese
travel decisions.
Because Vietnamese see travel as a ‘luxury’, the market survey
suggested that the products they are offered must be unique,
convenient and identify with the places they visit. |
Creating a visa-free zone
for
intra regional travel by citizens of the 10- member Association
of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) is a major goal of the first ASEAN Tourism Agreement signed
by heads of state at their 8th Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,
on 4 November 2002.
The agreement sets 2005 as the date by which to achieve this major
goal. The words ‘in principle’ have been inserted into the agreement
in order to accommodate those countries that may not be ready for
it by that time.
If it does materialise, however, the agreement will go a long way
towards promoting greater intra-regional trade, commerce, investment
and tourism, the primary goal of the wider ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.
It will also help cement one of the key strategies of the Thai
government to position the kingdom as a “Tourism Hub” of both the
Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN). Thailand is fortunate to be strategically located
right at the heart of both these groupings.
However, due to recent security concerns, visa and border-control
policies have come under review in several countries. ASEAN national
tourism organisations are keeping a close watch on these changes,
which have a critical impact on their marketing campaigns, especially
the ongoing ‘Visit ASEAN Campaign.’
While recognising the security concerns, they are still pushing
to:
• Expedite the conclusion of bilateral visa exemption arrangements;
• Facilitate visas on arrival for ASEAN nationals;
• Encourage the use of smart cards for ASEAN business and frequent
travellers and, where appropriate, for cross- border travel.
The feeling is that the interests of the security and tourism industries
must be balanced. Indeed, it is clear that over the last few years,
several Mekong countries have liberalised their visa policies,
and gained many benefits.
Cambodia’s visa-on-arrival policy has made it the region’s fastest
growing tourism destination. Anyone can get a visa at Phnom Penh
and Siem Reap airports upon filling out a form, providing a photograph
and US$10 fee. In 2002, Cambodia had the highest growth in visitor
arrivals of all ASEAN countries, up 30% to 786,524 (by air at Phnom
Penh and Siem Reap, its two main international gateways).
Laos, emerging as a major tourism competitor to Cambodia, gives
entry visas at 11 international checkpoints, including Pakse, Luang
Prabang and Vientiane international airports, six overland checkpoints
with Thailand and one each with Vietnam and China.
Of the 735,660 visitors to Laos in 2002, a total of 417,320 came
over the Friendship Bridge from Thailand. Arrivals at other checkpoints
are also rising, with 45,489 arrivals at the Houixay checkpoint,
75,461 at Savannakhet and 39,720 at Champassak.
Laos is to host its first ASEAN Tourism Forum, the region’s signature
travel trade show, in January 2004. So far, it has not indicated
any change in visa policy in spite of security-related incidents
there.
Myanmar has not relaxed its universal visa-requirement policies.
However, it now allows international tourists with visas to enter
the country through the five border checkpoints from Yunnan or
Thailand and leave by air from Mandalay or Yangon.
It grants visas on arrival only to packaged visitors by cruise-line
and charter flights. Individual travellers from countries with
no Myanmar diplomatic missions can apply for a visa on arrival
through licensed agencies in Myanmar or direct with the Ministry
of Hotels and Tourism.
Thailand, too, has had to revise its visa-free and visa-on-arrival
policies due to security concerns. Visa-free entry facility is
now granted to citizens of 37 countries, allowing them to stay
in Thailand up to 30 days, down from 58 countries previously. The
15-day temporary tourist visa (visa on arrival) facility is extended
to passport holders of 15 countries, down from 96.
However, the 52 countries on the visa-free or visa-on-arrival list
still generate about 80% of total visitor arrivals.
|
Visitor
Arrivals to the GMS Countries IN 1997-2001
|
Country
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
| Cambodia |
218,843
|
186,333
|
262,907
|
351,661
|
408,377
|
| Laos |
463,200
|
500,200
|
614,278
|
737,208
|
673,823
|
| Myanmar |
—
|
197,726
|
198,795
|
206,243
|
201,993
|
| Thailand |
7,221,345
|
7,764,930
|
8,580,332
|
9,508,623
|
10,061,950
|
| Vietnam |
1,715,637
|
1,520,128
|
1,781,760
|
2,150,100
|
2,330,050
|
| Yunnan* |
—
|
—
|
—
|
1,000,000
|
1,130,000
|
| Source: Pacific Asia
Travel Association (PATA)’s Annual Statistic Report *Estimated
figures |
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