Viet Nam's online tourism marketing slowly improving

Last week, Viet Nam News asked its readers about the quality of Viet Nam's online tourism marketing and advertising. Below are some of your responses: 

Ron Harris, American, Ha Noi

Internet tourism advertising and information in Viet Nam has improved significantly in the years that I have lived and worked here. I don't use websites very much for travel, but depend more on advice from friends. The sites I have seen are visually attractive and becoming more sophisticated, but there are still some areas that could be improved.

One concern with Vietnamese tourism websites and information in general is the English translation wording. Some sites are fine, but others need adjusting. I have some personal experience in helping create some English versions of tourism materials in Viet Nam. It seems that there is a lot of direct translation of descriptions that probably sound very attractive in Vietnamese, but lose their appeal in English. For the sites needing adjustment, some of the descriptions are too dramatic and overdone, sometimes they just have unnatural wording, and sometimes they are even confusing. This makes the native English speaker feel less confident about choosing that destination.

Another area of improvement could be credit card payment. Many foreign tourists like to book by credit card and don't always want to go through a tour agent, but it seems that many sites in Viet Nam still cannot accommodate this method of payment. Perhaps the most significant is Vietnam Airlines. I have tried a few times to book directly by credit card on their site, but have not had success. Perhaps it was just bad timing. Fortunately, there are many ticket sales sites in Viet Nam for tourists already in country.

I expect that Viet Nam will continue to improve rapidly in this area as IT, English, and other resources improve. Viet Nam has so many wonderful sites and interesting cultural aspects, and I hope the quality of the websites will eventually match the real beauty and hospitality found here.

William Ribbing, Pensacola, Florida, USA

Viet Nam Tourism keywords may have increased, but to say the tourism companies in Viet Nam fail to aim toward the foreign market is completely wrong. Tourism companies in Viet Nam not only provide a great service to the foreign community but they also feed the Vietnamese community equally.

I don't think any tourism company in Viet Nam would fail to provide the best service possible to their clients. As for providing information to the potential clients on the websites, I have not found one website that didn't expound on the variety of available tours or sites that would be of interest to foreigners. All of Viet Nam's beauty is provided on the many websites, and most of the websites duplicate each other's services and tours.

Refreshingly I've found "Footprinter's Viet Nam" to be an innovative website designed to provide unusual tours and planning of vacations to Viet Nam, fitted to the choices of the clients. Not only are guided and unguided tours available, but they provide every service necessary to meet any visitor's wants or desires. This company makes every client feel welcome and part of the local community just like a big happy family, and that is what foreign visitors like.

Personally I believe that quality marketing of Viet Nam tourism industry meets and even exceeds many foreign markets. The information is readily available to anyone visiting the websites and willing to contact the company representatives. Many potential clients fail to just contact the companies to ask questions. Providing client information is essential to the marketing, therefore it would benefit some of the smaller companies to offer free consultations and discussion forums on their websites. So many tourism companies tout the same locations, and duplication of tours create more confusion. Offering more locations than the standard tours will increase the foreign and local business.

When I visit Viet Nam, I don't want to be herded along with the rest of the tourists like a bunch of cattle. I want the freedom to seek different places and get away from the tourists, to find the local atmosphere and be part of it. When tourism companies pair a guide with one or two visitors and take them where they want to go, then the experience is long lasting and creates a lasting friendship that pours out to the people back home. That advertising by word of mouth is one of the best accolades a company can obtain, and increases their business tenfold.

Alice Laurent, French, Ha Noi

Advertising by Viet Nam's tourism sector has multiplied over the years. Viet Nam has developed slowly and is trying to catch up with other ASEAN countries in this sector. For the past 10 years, the tourism industry has been evolving and trying to catch up with Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Many agencies rely on a website to boost their business and therefore treat the website as a showcase. The number of websites has grown and among the competition it is increasingly difficult for the client to determine whether a company is reliable or not.
The website reflects the overall company image. It's also a way to verify its reliability. Some websites accumulate misspellings, leaving their seriousness in doubt, some "fake" businesses copy and paste text from other websites. And the reliability of the company is difficult to assess.

The first thing a customer checks is the site's content and it's format, the address of the head office, customer feedback on forums and personalised responses to emails.
From my research on the internet, I found that most travel agencies transform their website into a tourist guide by explaining the history of each spot, the formalities for the visa and some tips about the life here. Such information raises confidence among customers. However, it is unfortunate that the sites are not translated into several languages. Take the case of a prospective client French - the majority of seach results to French key words lead potential customers to French agencies, putting the Vietnamese agencies out of reach of French clients as they go to a French agency for services. Most Vietnamese agencies only offer websites in English, which is a pity because most of the tourists are Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese.

Nevertheless, Vietnamese websites generally offer comprehensive information on places to visit and advice for travelers. Despite this, it is still difficult to choose among a growing number of competing companies. — VNS