Tourism to become truly spearhead, green industry by 2030

Vietnam aims to turn tourism into a truly spearhead economic sector with green growth and world leading development capacity by 2030.

This is part of a master plan on the tourism system for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2045 approved by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on June 13.

The plan targets 25 - 28 million international arrivals, 130 million domestic travellers, and an annual growth rate of 8 - 9% in the number of domestic tourists for 2025. By 2030, the international tourist number is hoped to reach 35 million and post an annual increase of 13 - 15% while domestic travellers hit 160 million and grow 4 - 5% annually.

Tourism is expected to directly contribute 8 - 9% and 13 - 14% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025 and 2030, respectively.

Under the master plan, this sector will create about 6.3 million jobs, including 2.1 million direct jobs, by 2025 and 10.5 million jobs, including 3.5 million direct ones, by 2030.

Vietnam is working to recover and sustain the growth of domestic tourists during 2021 - 2025. Meanwhile, it is set to tap into the markets of tourists with high spending and long stay, along with new markets in terms of golf, sports, and adventure tourism during 2026 - 2030.

Efforts are being made to revive traditional markets and attract emerging ones like India and Middle Eastern countries between 2021 and 2025. For 2026 - 2030, Vietnam is going to maintain and expand traditional markets in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, Russia, Eastern Europe, and the Oceania while diversifying markets to increase the proportion of high-spending travellers.

By 2045, tourism is expected to establish itself as an engine of the economy, and Vietnam will become a globally outstanding destination and one of the countries with the strongest tourism development in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the master plan.

The scheme also eyes 70 million international arrivals, about 7.3 quadrillion VND (28.68 billion USD) in tourism revenue, and the sector’s contribution of 17 - 18% of GDP by 2045.