TTLV: Solutions to attract Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane

MASTER'S THESIS INFORMATION

1. Student's full name:Somchith VILAYCHITH

2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: April 4, 1988

4. Place of birth: Louangprabang Province, Laos

5. Decision on recognition of students No. 2647/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH, dated November 14, 2014 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in the training process:

7. Thesis topic name:Solutions to attract Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane

8. Major: Tourism Code:

9. Scientific instructor:Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Duc Thanh

10. Summary of thesis results:

In recent years, for Lao tourism, Vietnam has been an important tourist market in Southeast Asia. According to statistics from the Tourism Management and Research Board under the Ministry of Information - Culture - Tourism of Laos in 2015, the number of Vietnamese tourists to Laos was over 1.3 million people, ranking second only to Thailand. The development of the Vietnamese tourism market in Laos in recent times has not been commensurate with the potential and conditions of the two countries. In reality, there are still some shortcomings when Laos attracts tourists from the Vietnamese tourism market. Through the research on the topic "Solutions to attract Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane", the thesis has drawn the following conclusions:

- The number of Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane has grown very steadily and has a high spending level, however, with the result of nearly 1.3 million Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane in 2015, it is still not commensurate with the potential and conditions for tourism cooperation between the two countries. The thesis has affirmed that Vietnam is one of the extremely potential tourist markets for Vientiane, which needs to be invested in and researched properly.

- According to the author's survey results, 84% of tourists come to Vientiane for the first time, 11% of tourists come for the second time, 1% of tourists come for the third time and only 2% of tourists come for the third time or more. Although the number of survey questionnaires is not large, it shows that the solutions implemented by Vientiane in attracting Vietnamese tourists have certain limitations in terms of uneven quality of tourism human resources, lack of high professionalism; national promotion and advertising for the Vietnamese market is still not continuous, weak and unprofessional; the tourism industry has not been invested with adequate funds and human resources; market research and tastes of Vietnamese tourists have not been organized to build a separate product set for this group of tourists; tourism fairs have not been regularly and periodically participated in, organized events that attract much attention in the Vietnamese market; Tourism technical facilities are only concentrated in some central areas of Vientiane and not evenly distributed throughout the city, and the seasonal operation of tourism businesses has caused the phenomenon of overloading visitors in some places during peak seasons, affecting the environment and sustainability; Vientiane tourism products are still very limited, relying mainly on natural factors, exploiting what is available, not showing advantages in the market...

- The thesis presents the opportunities and challenges, advantages and disadvantages of Vientiane tourism in the face of the development trend of Vietnamese tourists in the coming time. In addition, the thesis also presents solutions and recommendations to the government and relevant agencies. The solutions have been analyzed in detail and specifically, focusing on important groups of solutions, namely: solutions on policy mechanisms, on developing the system of technical infrastructure for tourism, on promoting tourism, on developing human resources.

11. Practical application:

12. Further research directions:

13. Published works related to the thesis:

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: Somchith VILAYCHITH 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: April 4, 1987 4. Place of birth: Louangprabang province, LAO PDR.

5. Admission decision number: 2647/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH November 14, 2014 by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Dated: November 14, 2014

6. Changes in academic process:

7. Official thesis title: “Solutions for attracting Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane”

8. Major: Tourist Code:

9. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Tran Duc Thanh

10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

For recent years, for Lao tourism, Vietnam is an important market in the Southeast Asia. According to directly statistical data of Tourist Research and Management Committee under the control of Ministry of Information – Culture – Tourism of Laos in 2015, the number of tourists who visited Laos is 1.3 million tourists and ranks as the second country, only after Thailand. The development of Vietnam tourism market of Laos for recent years has not been appropriate with the potentiality and conditions of the two countries. In fact, there are several short-comings when Laos attracts tourists from Vietnamese tourism market. By researching the title “Solutions for attracting Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane”, the thesis has several conclusions, as follows:

- The number of Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane has the extremely stable growth and they have high payment level, however the number of nearly 1.3 millions of Vietnamese tourists to Vientiane is not appropriate with the potentiality and tourism cooperation conditions of the two countries. The thesis has confirmed that Vietnam is one of greatly potential tourist markets for Vientiane and it should be invested and researched properly.

- According to the research findings of the author, 84% tourists travel Vientiane for the first time, 11% tourists travel for the second time, 1% tourists travel for the third time and above. Although the number of questionnaires is few, it shows that the solutions which have been applied in Vientiane to attract Vietnamese tourists have specific limitations. The quality of human resources of tourism is not equal and has not high professional; the promotion and propagation at the national level for Vietnamese market are not continuous, weak and the organizational step is not professional, its tourism has not been invested the appropriate expenses and forces; it has not researched the market and tastes of Vietnamese tourists in order to build a specific product for this object; it has not participated frequently and occasionally into travel fairs, and it has not organized events to attract lots of attentions of Vietnamese market; The tourism infrastructures only concentrate into several central areas of Vientiane but they are not distributed equally in the whole city and the seasonal operation of travel enterprises cause the overloaded concentration in several areas in peak time which has impacts on environment and sustainable capacity; Vientiane tourism products are very limited, only base mainly on natural factors, available product exploitation, and they do not express their advantages in the market, and etc.

- The thesis introduces the opportunities and challenges, advantages and disadvantages of Vientiane tourism before the development tendency of Vietnames tourists in the next time. In addition, the thesis shows the solutions, petitions to the government and concerning authorities. These solutions have analyzed in detail, specifically and concentrated into important solution groups, including: solutions on political mechanisms, solutions on tourist infrastructure system development, solutions on tourism promotion, solutions on human resources development.

11. Practical applicability:

12. Further research directions:

13. Thesis-related publications: