Google’s “Year in Search 2023" report shows Vietnam is the most searched destination by Indian tourists this year, with the highest numbers in February and April.
Indonesia's Bali Island came in third. Sri Lanka and Thailand, which already offer visa-free policy for Indian tourists, were at the fourth and fifth positions.
Goa, Kashmir, Coorg and Andaman & Nicobar Islands were the four Indian destinations among the top 10 most googled by Indian tourists, and finishing the list were Italy and Switzerland.
Skift, a news site covering news related to travel, tourism, airlines and hospitality in India, said Vietnam could be the next destination to offer visa-free entry to Indians after Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia for a fixed period. For instance, Malaysia is offering visa-free entry to Indian passport holders from December 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024.
At a recent tourism conference chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung proposed that the government considers granting visa-free entry for Indian tourists to compete with Southeast Asian neighbors.
Google’s report also matches data of foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam this year. India is now among the 10 largest sources of inbound tourists for Vietnam with 352,000 arrivals in the first 11 months of the year, up 1.8 times against pre-pandemic times.
Before 2019, there were no direct flights between India and Vietnam. In 2019, Vietjet became the first Vietnamese carrier to operate a direct service to India, which had become one of Vietnam's main tourism markets before the pandemic.
Last year, Vietnam Airlines launched direct services between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and New Delhi, becoming the second Vietnamese carrier to fly to India.
Data from online booking travel site Agoda shows searches for Vietnam by Indian tourists between January 2019 to mid-May in 2023 was higher than for Southeast Asian neighbors like Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, according to CNBC.
Last month, popular beach hub Danang and capital city Hanoi were named among world’s 10 most searched tourist destinations by Indian tourists by Scotland-based Skycanner, one of the world's largest flight travel search platforms.
Vietnam’s tourism sector has witnessed a gradual recovery, with the initial target of international arrivals revised upwards from 8 million to 12.5-13 million. As of now, the target of 12.5 million foreign arrivals has been achieved.