Visitor numbers in Hawaiʻi so far this year are up slightly from a year ago, but still short of the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. In Southeast Asia, tourism numbers are sharply higher in Vietnam, which is concerning one of its neighbors — Thailand.
Thailand still dominates the regional market for international visitors, but the trends are sparking a lot of commentary in the Thai hospitality industry. So far this year, foreign visitors to Thailand are about the same level as last year — a little more than 12 million.
For Vietnam, it's nearly 8 million, but that's a rise of more than 20% from last year.
A Thai tourism group says Vietnam may leapfrog Thailand as a tourist destination in two to three years.
The president of the Association of Chon Buri Tourism Federation told the Bangkok Post that not only is Vietnam cheaper for visitors, it's also got an edge on infrastructure.
She said many airports serving major cities in Vietnam are set up to handle direct flights from overseas.
The swing vote in this contest may belong to a market familiar to both countries: China.
Government figures show it's the top source of visitors to both destinations.
Through the first four months of this year, Thailand hosted roughly 1.6 million Chinese visitors, down more than 20% from a year ago.
Over the same period, Vietnam welcomed nearly 2 million Chinese — an annual gain of more than 50%.
