Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu has advantages to forge ahead in premium, MICE tourism

The Grand Hồ Tràm Strip in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province’s Xuyên Mộc District, a premium resort. – VNA Photo

BÀ RỊA – VŨNG TÀU – The coastal province of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu has great potential for premium and MICE tourism, thanks to its many high-class accommodation facilities and excellent tourism services.

In 2023 the province has hosted many national and international events such as the Tourism Promoting Organisation for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO) for Vietnamese members, the International Kite Festival, a Fitness Supermodel Vietnam competition, and a number of national sports competitions. 

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu also received several domestic and foreign delegations coming on familiarisation trips to assess the province’s tourism facilities, including from such countries as Japan, South Korea and China.

It has attracted around 4.3 million overnight tourists so far this year, a 12.28 per cent increase year-on-year. International overnight tourists accounted for 200,000, a 28.5 per cent rise.

It has a lot of things going for it in terms of attracting foreign travellers, especially in the premium tourism and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions tourism (MICE) segments. Trịnh Hàng, director of its Department of Tourism, told Việt Nam News that the province has an advantageous location, good weather and a beautiful coastline with beaches, premium resorts and water sports.

“In the province, high-quality, international level tourism areas have been established. It has been focusing on building a safe, high-quality tourism environment. Vũng Tàu City has been honoured twice in a row as an ASEAN Clean Tourist City.”

Tourism facilities and infrastructure are being developed in both quality and quantity. The province has around 1,490 accommodation facilities (with over 30,600 rooms), including 10 five-star hotels and 17 four-star hotels, enabling it to serve a wide variety of demographics.

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu is also home to many high-class resort and hotel brands such as The Grand Hồ Tràm Strip, Six Senses Côn Đảo, The Imperial, Pullman, and Marina Bay Resort, among others. 

It is home to 45 tour operators, including 23 international ones, and over 10 high- quality tourism projects are under construction. Transport infrastructure and connectivity to serve tourism are also seeing improvements.

According to analysts, Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu has the potential to strongly develop MICE tourism. Since it is only around 120 kilometres from HCM City, roads have been upgraded and traffic flows are relatively smooth, visiting it is not difficult for most tourists.

Besides, Vũng Tàu City in particular has numerous excellent conference centres and hotels, enabling it to host major events and meetings, international-level competitions and cultural activities. 

Bà Rịa Vũng Tàu Province has numerous facilities for holding meetings and other events, making it an ideal destination for MICE tourism. – Photo baotintuc.vn

​Development strategy

In November the province sent a working group to Thailand to learn from its tourism development experience, especially in Bangkok, one of the leading destinations for MICE tourism in Southeast Asia.

After the trip, the group has proposed to the provincial People’s Committee solutions to develop Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu’s tourism and make it an attractive destination for international visitors.

The province should approve a tourism development strategy up to 2030 (with a vision to 2050), focusing on investment in infrastructure and developing local tourism attractions and unique products. It should also build tourism brands with logos, slogans, symbols, and narratives.

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu ought to seek investment to develop infrastructure and become a national and international hub for organising conferences and seminars combined with tourism.

It should also facilitate digital transformation of the tourism industry so that it can utilise social media to stimulate tourism and investment in tourism products that make use of its natural advantages. – VNS