China reopens the tour to Vietnam, what is the chance for us to lure Chinese travelers?

China reopens the tour to Vietnam, what is the chance for us to lure Chinese travelers?

China has listed Vietnam as a country China’s group tours can be conducted starting from March 15, according to Peng Shituan, Cultural Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam.

This leads the more opportunities for Tourism in Vietnam to lure Chinese travelers. However, these are 3 things that travel agencies in Vietnam should consider for taking profit from this “billion of citizens” country’s tourists.

First is always the story about how to attract valuable customers.

According to Ms. Ngo Lan Phuong - CEO of Kim Lien Travel, which specializes in receiving Chinese travelers, in an interview with Vietnamnet:

“In Chinese thoughts, Vietnam provides low-cost and low-quality services. The Chinese traveling in Vietnam in the past were mostly older and retired people who crossed border gates to enter Vietnam.

They just need to book tours at the low price of hundreds of yuan (some Chinese travel agents sold tours at just 200 yuan per traveler).

Many Chinese visited Vietnam under ‘zero dong’ tours, which was a contentious issue for Vietnam as this caused tax evasion and losses to the state budget.”

*To attract valuable customers (high-income Chinese travelers), travel agencies in Vietnam not only have to pay attention to professional tour designs but also give them more options of service to satisfy them, due to Ms. Phuong.

She said Chinese high-income earners are generous and are willing to spend money on spas, healthcare services, food, and shopping.

Talking about the difference between European and Chinese travelers, Phuong said while European travelers spend $200 to book a tour and don’t spend much more money on other things, Chinese travelers buy tours at $100 but spend $500 on other services.

As Chinese GDP per capita has increased, Chinese are willing to spend money on outbound tours.

The problem is that Vietnam still cannot connect with sizeable Chinese travel firms. It is necessary to squeeze into the firms’ sales networks.*

*Sourced by Vietnamnet

Second what destination Chinese tourists visit in 2023?

Vietnam is a nation biased by Natural Mother. We have many beautiful places, which are recognized by UNESCO international natural heritage such as Phong Nha Cave in Quang Binh, Son Doong Cave also in Quang Binh, Ha Long Cave in Quang Ninh, etc. not only for Chinese tourists but also others from all over the world.

Moreover, with creativity and delicateness, Vietnamese people manually build beautiful works of international stature such as The Hand Bridge on Ba Na Hills in Da Nang or Phu Quoc European Boulevard.

On the other hand, if Chinese tourists want to know more about the historical structures or cultural structures of Vietnam, they can come to the Complex of Hue Monuments in Thua Thien Hue State or Hoi An Ancient Town in Quang Nam State, etc.

There are always enough choices to go for Chinese travelers, the most important thing for travel agencies is that they must not only design a tour logically and suitably for them but also find out the best place for them to rest and do other activities. For this problem can solve, they need to know more about general insights be changed after COVID-19 of Chinese tourists such as:

  • **The thing to keep in mind is that your potential Chinese customers changed during the pandemic. Now we see a trend of Chinese tourists choosing rather small groups and independent travelers rather than the large tour groups that they were known from before the pandemic. So that some tours may be organized not over than 10 people
  • What is more, potential customers have different expectations than before, opting for accommodations with environmentally friendly operations and cruelty-free animal reservoirs. Travelers, especially young Chinese, thanks to Chinese social media marketing and influence from the West, are more environmentally conscious and their travel behaviors will also reflect that.
  • Chinese people are more open to wildlife and nature-focused holidays. They will gladly choose outdoor activities, rent cars or go for arranged road trips, and sleep in glamping or smaller bungalows. As they were locked down for a long, they get interested in open spaces and nature rather than city life and shopping. **

**Sourced by Marketing to China

The last one, which payment methods do Chinese tourists use in Vietnam?

The last generations just like Gen X, The Babies Boomer, and even Gen Y often bring cash or a card by their side to pay for the tour and the other demands.

However, when the revolution “Pay without cash” explores, Gen Z people who always use mobile phones, often use mobile payments for those bills for those reasons:

  • More convenient and safe when they just need to bring smartphones by their side when they go on the street.
  • Faster than using cash and cards (especially cards when they always need the long-time process to access payments and get more trouble when you forget your pin or change the signature).  
  • Cheaper than using cards when they don’t need to pay a fee for maintaining them or some transaction costs during the payments).

The noteworthy is that the banking system in Vietnam and China must connect and sync with each other, then Chinese travelers can use their mobile payment App in Vietnam.

For example, if Alipay and Wechat Pay don’t have a connection banking system in Vietnam, the Chinese traveler will have to transfer the money from Alipay or Wechat Pay to the VISA Debit Bank Account of the service’s owner in Vietnam and have to pay a transaction cost for that (so why they need Alipay or Wechat Pay anymore?).

***Understanding this problem, since November 2017, China’s Alipay has entered Vietnam and has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (Napas) in Hanoi.

Under the cooperation, Alipay in Vietnam will provide an online application for Chinese travelers currently staying in Vietnam to enable cross-border payments. The service is expected help users to save time and transaction costs. ***

***Sourced by Sai Gon Giai Phong News

Read more:

What are Alipay and Wechat Pay? The difference between Alipay and Wechat Pay

Re-opening Chinese Tourists is helping Alipay, Wechat Pay go back to Vietnam

How Chinese Tourists Can Make Payment in VND in Vietnam?