Will Vietnam Overtake Thailand As a Tourist Destination?
In the last 8 years, Thailand has often been in news reports, a great tourism destination but not without its problems. Politics has resulted in divisions between red pro-government and yellow shirt anti-government protestors. Violence is brewing again with elections just taking place at the beginning of February 2014. Unfortunately the elections don't solve the political problem since they run deep dividing the rural farming communities and the city folks. So, where is the crisis going? Nobody is quite sure but certainly Bangkok is now to become avoided being a tourist destination. Having said that Thailand received over 23 million visitors in 2013 with a lot of going to the mountains of the north and the stunning beaches over the Andaman Sea. This can be over 3 times the 7 million tourists who flocked to Vietnam as part of tour packages to Vietnam, travelling independently or as an element of a team tour packages for south east Asia. So what are the chances that the balance will tourists and shift will start visiting Vietnam over Thailand?vietnam travel forums
There are certainly a few things to take into consideration. Firstly Thailand is a airport hub there are direct flights to Bangkok from all over the world. This is certainly an edge although Vietnam is opening up and over recent years direct routes have already been opened between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Europe as well as the US. Furthermore Vietnam visas are now not necessary for that beach resort of Phu Quoc. Visa letters can also be found avoiding the need to apply for a Visa beforehand. Certainly Thailand really has the extra edge here as a Visa is free and given on arrival for thirty days.
Vietnam has also grown over the last ten years and now boasts many luxury hotels as well as exclusive beach resorts. This can also be together with the mountains towards the east and a range of climates from your cooler north to the tropical south. So is Thailand, not taking into account Bangkok, although from a safety aspect Vietnam certainly is a safe country.
One could expect taking in these short observations into consideration that tourism to Vietnam would increase in a faster rate than that of Thailand. I suppose when people decide on whether to take tour packages to Vietnam or group tours to south east Asia whether or not to include Thailand would certainly be a little more of any concern now. Of course the problem may go either way in Thailand and it also remains to be seen the way a political solution are available in the temporary.