With its distinctive culture, beautiful natural scenery and affordable attractions, Vietnam has emerged as one of the top destinations for travelers from Singapore, Thailand, Australia and South Korea for their next vacation. 
 
According to the Visa Global Travel Intentions Survey 2011, 24 percent of future inbound travelers to Vietnam will be from Singapore and Thailand (12 percent from each country), followed by Australia (10 percent). The Survey also highlighted a growing number of tourists from South Korea.

Natural scenery, good deals and promotions as well as political stability were cited as the key factors for visiting Vietnam over the next two years. While in Vietnam, future inbound travelers say they will enjoy outdoor activities, undertaking food tours to explore the local cuisine and experiencing the nightlife.
 
Lorijon Bacchi, Country Manager, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, Visa said: “With tourism emerging as one of Vietnam’s key economic drivers, this survey comes at an ideal time to show us where visitors to Vietnam are coming from, their plans and what motivates them.  Using the data from the Visa Global Travel Intentions Survey 2011, the Vietnamese tourism industry can now identify opportunities to attract more tourists based specifically on inbound traveler preferences.”

The Visa Survey asked over 11,000 travelers across 23 countries their intended travel destinations and preferences over the coming years. Interestingly, large numbers of those surveyed said they would be willing to pay a premium for food (64 percent), to visit exotic destinations (65 percent) and to experience the culture (63 percent). Similarly, variety of food and dining options and lower cost of travelling were also cited as key reasons for future inbound travel decisions.

Ms. Hoang Thi Diep, Vice Chairperson, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said “Thanks to the Visa Global Travel Intentions Survey 2011 by Visa, VNAT is able to gain useful resources and insights. Some of Visa’s findings such as the most popular source of information that future inbound travelers use when planning trip is through word of mouth recommendation (53 percent) and through reservations/booking websites for hotels (53 percent), etc, are useful information to help orient priorities in promotion methods. VNAT and VISA also mentioned the possibility of cooperating and sharing regular information in the next period in order to develop programs with an aim to attract more international tourists to Vietnam, making the country one of the region’s top tourist destinations.”
 

Profile of travelers who most likely to visit Vietnam in the next two years

Who are they	- Average 38 years old - Married with children (47%) and Single (36%) - 60% male and 40% female
Preferred accommodation	Three to Four-Star Hotels
Average trip duration	41%
Travel Type	39%
Travel Companions	25%
Median monthly personal income	16%