Tourism officials wary of Vietnam

Rival could overtake Thailand in SE Asia

- MOLPASORN SHOOWONG

Tourism operators fear Thailand will lose its position as the top Southeast Asian destination to Vietnam in a few years as the latter reported nearly 50% inbound market growth in March compared with the pre-pandemic period, while Thailand struggles with sluggish growth.

Thanet Supornsahasrungsi, president of the Association of Chon Buri Tourism Federation, said it may take only 2-3 years for Vietnam to gain more inbound tourists than Thailand.

For this year, Vietnam set a goal for 23 million foreign arrivals, while Thailand's Finance Ministry slashed its international arrivals forecast from 38.5 million to 36.5 million.

Thailand recorded 2.7 million tourists in March, down 20% from the 2019 level, while Vietnam tallied more than 2 million tourists in the same month, up by 40% from 2019.