Over the past 8 years, Thailand has often been in news reports, a great tourism destination although not without its problems. Politics has resulted in divisions between red pro-government and yellow shirt anti-government protestors. Violence is brewing again with elections just happening at the beginning of February 2014. Unfortunately the elections don't solve the political problem because they run deep dividing the rural farming communities and the city folks. So where is the crisis going? Nobody is quite sure but certainly Bangkok has become to get avoided as being a tourist destination. Having said that Thailand received over 23 million visitors in 2013 with a lot of exploring the mountains of the north and also the stunning beaches over the Andaman Sea. This is over 3 times the 7 million tourists who flocked to Vietnam included in tour packages to Vietnam, travelling independently or as part of a team tour packages for south east Asia. So, what are the chances that the balance will tourists and shift will start visiting Vietnam over Thailand?
vietnam travel forumsYou can find certainly a couple of things to take into consideration. Firstly Thailand is actually a airport hub and there are direct flights to Bangkok from worldwide. This is actually an advantage although Vietnam is opening up and over recent years direct routes happen to be opened between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Europe and also the US. In addition Vietnam visas are not required for the beach resort of Phu Quoc. Visa letters are also offered avoiding the requirement to apply for a Visa beforehand. Certainly Thailand still has the extra edge here as being a Visa is free and given on arrival for 1 month.
Vietnam also has grown during the last a decade now boasts many luxury hotels along with exclusive beach resorts. This may also be together with the mountains to the east and a variety of climates from the cooler north to the tropical south. From a safety aspect Vietnam certainly is a safe country, but so is Thailand, not taking into account Bangkok.
vietnam travel forums
One could expect consuming these short observations into consideration that tourism to Vietnam would increase at a faster rate than that of Thailand. I guess whenever people decide on whether to take tour packages to Vietnam or group tours to south east Asia whether to include Thailand would most likely be more of a concern now. Obviously the situation might go either way in Thailand and it also remains to be noticed how a political solution are available in the short term.