Vietnam Hospitality Has the Growth Momentum but Service and Access Gaps Still Limit Its Full Potential

Written By: Swagata Dey

Swagata Dey

SEO Content Writer with a focus on travel, tourism, and global destination marketing. With 5+ years of experience crafting compelling, SEO-optimized content for leading travel platforms, Swagata bring a deep understanding of travel trends, audience engagement, and destination promotion. Having contributed extensively to Travel and Tour World, Swagata is known for delivering high-quality, search-engine-friendly articles that resonate with both readers and search engines. Specializing in creating narratives that capture the essence of global destinations while maximizing visibility, Swagata blends storytelling with strategic SEO techniques to drive traffic and elevate brand presence in the competitive travel industry.

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September 8, 2026 5:51 AM

Image Credit: https://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/

Vietnam Hospitality Has the Growth Momentum but Service and Access Gaps Still Limit Its Full Potential because the country is simultaneously experiencing technology adoption, infrastructure development and expanding tourism opportunities while confronting practical weaknesses that can directly affect international travellers. In an exclusive interview with Travel And Tour World, John Gardner, CEO of Optimum Hospitality, drew on more than 30 years of Asia-Pacific hospitality experience and two decades in Vietnam to explain why AI, new transport links and higher-value tourism could reshape the market, but only if service, accessibility and environmental challenges are addressed.

Why Is AI Becoming the Biggest Transformation in Vietnam Hospitality?

Artificial intelligence is emerging as one of the most consequential changes entering hotel operations because it can increasingly support research, administration, pricing, communication and other tasks that traditionally demand significant staff time, with Gardner describing its adoption as a transformation extending far beyond Vietnam. He believes hotels will progressively integrate AI into everyday operations, making the technology relevant not simply as a digital novelty but as an operational tool capable of affecting guest experience, staff responsibilities and revenue management across different areas of the hospitality business.

“I think the biggest transformation right now is like every industry in the world is adoption of AI within the industry.”

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Gardner’s observation places Vietnam within a wider technology transition, but his emphasis remains firmly practical: AI matters when it changes how hotels operate and how effectively employees can use their time.

Could AI Completely Reshape Hotel Revenue Management?

Revenue management could become one of the clearest examples of AI-driven disruption because hotel specialists currently conduct extensive research, monitor market conditions and regularly adjust room rates, whereas Gardner expects artificial intelligence to assume much more of that analytical work. He suggested that employees may initially continue supervising AI-generated decisions, but more sophisticated systems could eventually research and implement pricing themselves, raising important questions about how traditional revenue-management roles could evolve as automation becomes increasingly capable.

“It may get to a point, not immediately but a little bit down the track, you don’t actually need a revenue manager. AI will do it.”

This does not mean an immediate disappearance of hotel revenue-management jobs; Gardner explicitly described such a development as something further down the road, making his argument a longer-term assessment of how automation could progressively alter existing responsibilities.

How Could AI Give Hotel Employees More Time for Guests?

Gardner sees AI’s potential value extending beyond cost efficiency because reducing back-of-house administrative work could give hospitality employees more time to interact directly with travellers, potentially strengthening a part of the hotel experience that still depends heavily on personal service. Rather than keeping employees occupied with repetitive administrative responsibilities, AI-supported operations could allow them to concentrate on conversations, assistance and other guest-facing activities, making automation potentially complementary to hospitality rather than simply a substitute for human labour.

“Those staff will have more time to spend with the guests. They’ll be able to give them better service instead of being tied up with back of house administrative work.”

That distinction is crucial to Gardner’s outlook because he sees AI reducing workload while creating space for employees to deliver better service, rather than treating technology as an end in itself.

Why Could Language Become a Critical Test for Vietnam Tourism?

English-language capability remains a noticeable challenge outside Vietnam’s major urban hospitality centres, according to Gardner, who said international guests can encounter communication difficulties when travelling beyond destinations such as Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hanoi. These problems can become particularly frustrating during everyday interactions such as ordering food, and Gardner believes expanding the availability of English-speaking hospitality employees could make a substantial difference to guest satisfaction as more international travellers explore destinations beyond established gateways.

“One of the biggest challenges that exists in this country right now as far as tourism goes is lack of English speaking.”

AI could also become part of the solution because Gardner expects real-time translation to make communication across different languages easier, potentially helping travellers speak with hotel or restaurant staff even where shared language skills remain limited.

Can Airports Expressways and Railways Unlock Vietnam’s Next Tourism Corridors?

Infrastructure could transform the geographical reach of Vietnamese tourism over the next three to five years, with Gardner pointing to new airports, expressways and railways as developments capable of opening destinations and improving movement around the country. He particularly highlighted transport development around Ho Chi Minh City and new airport infrastructure in southern Vietnam, arguing that stronger connectivity can make a major difference to hospitality by allowing travellers to access more areas and giving tourism businesses new opportunities beyond traditional gateways.

“You’ve got airports, you’ve got expressways, you’ve got new railways, you’ve got so many things that are opening up the country to tourism.”

For travellers researching the destination, the official Vietnam tourism portal provides destination and travel information, while Gardner’s interview highlights the deeper industry issue: connectivity can determine which places benefit from tourism growth and how easily visitors can move through the country.

Should Vietnam Chase Higher Tourism Spending Instead of Bigger Visitor Numbers?

One of Gardner’s strongest arguments concerns the economics of tourism because he questions whether success should be judged mainly by the total number of international arrivals rather than the value generated by each visitor. He believes Vietnam has an opportunity to attract more affluent travellers who stay longer, spend more money and use higher-end hotels, potentially delivering stronger commercial returns than pursuing visitor growth without considering spending patterns, length of stay or the wider economic contribution generated during each trip.

“Should we look at the total numbers or should we even have less numbers but people that are going to stay, spend more money, stay in five-star hotels and stay longer?”

This value-over-volume argument could have important implications for accommodation, destination marketing and service development, because attracting higher-spending visitors requires not only premium hotels but also reliable infrastructure, smoother entry and consistently strong experiences.

Why Could Sustainability Determine Whether Travellers Return?

Gardner argues that genuine sustainability requires more than green messaging from international hotels because environmental standards also affect communities, destinations and the experiences travellers encounter once they leave their accommodation. He specifically discussed environmental compliance, renewable energy, water recycling and concerns raised by visitors about waste in places such as Ha Long Bay, warning that poor environmental experiences can damage destination perceptions and discourage repeat travel.

“Those sort of things have got to change because people will not return to Vietnam if they see those sorts of things.”

His message is therefore broader than hotel sustainability programmes: environmental performance becomes part of destination competitiveness when travellers judge not only the room they booked but also the cleanliness, management and physical condition of the places they travelled to experience.

Are Visa Requirements Making Vietnam Harder to Choose?

Gardner identified entry requirements as another area capable of influencing destination choice, arguing that travellers may compare Vietnam with competing Southeast Asian destinations based partly on how quickly and easily they can organise a trip. Using New Zealand travellers as his example, he explained that the need to arrange a visa can introduce additional time and expense, while destinations offering simpler entry may become more attractive to travellers who want to purchase a ticket and travel with fewer administrative steps.

“Vietnam have to apply for a visa, takes time, costs money and they think, ‘Ah, I’ll go to those other places, so much easier.’”

Travellers should always check current requirements through appropriate official channels rather than relying on general comparisons, while the official Vietnam tourism website also provides a dedicated visas section among its practical travel information.

Why Does the Airport Experience Still Matter Despite New Infrastructure?

Airport congestion can undermine a destination experience before travellers have properly begun their holiday, and Gardner described current arrival conditions as a challenge while expressing confidence that new airport development could eventually improve the situation. He also cautioned that an airport cannot work effectively in isolation because expressways, railways and other access infrastructure need to develop alongside terminal capacity, meaning the broader transformation of southern Vietnam’s tourism connectivity could take several years rather than arriving through a single project.

“The airport situation right now coming into Vietnam is not good.”

His argument highlights a fundamental hospitality principle: the visitor experience begins before hotel check-in, so immigration processing, terminal movement and surface transport can influence destination satisfaction just as strongly as accommodation service once travellers arrive.

Why Does Gardner Remain Positive About Vietnam Hospitality?

Gardner remains optimistic because he sees several forces moving in the same direction, including hotel development, tourism growth, technology adoption and major infrastructure improvements that could gradually remove barriers and open more opportunities across the country. His concerns about language, environmental standards, visa access and airport conditions therefore form part of a constructive assessment rather than a negative outlook, with improvements in these areas potentially allowing Vietnam to convert existing momentum into stronger guest satisfaction and more valuable tourism growth.

“Many things need to happen to help tourism go forward, but I’m very confident and positive for the future of tourism in Vietnam.”

Gardner’s perspective is informed by decades in hotel management across Asia-Pacific, including his long period at Caravelle Saigon, and his central message is that Vietnam already possesses powerful growth drivers but must strengthen the complete tourism journey if it wants those advantages to produce their maximum impact.

Conclusion: What Will Determine Vietnam Hospitality’s Full Potential?

Vietnam Hospitality Has the Growth Momentum but Service and Access Gaps Still Limit Its Full Potential because hotel expansion, AI integration and major transport infrastructure create opportunities while communication barriers, entry friction, environmental weaknesses and airport pressure can still undermine the visitor journey. The answer is therefore not growth alone but better-quality growth: if Vietnam can combine technology with stronger hospitality service, easier access, sustainable destination management and efficient connectivity, it could translate its existing momentum into longer stays, greater visitor spending and a more competitive tourism economy while improving experiences for international travellers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does John Gardner see as the biggest transformation in hospitality?

Gardner believes artificial intelligence is the biggest transformation currently entering hospitality, with potential implications for operations, guest experience and revenue management. He expects AI to undertake more research and administrative work while helping hotel employees spend more time directly serving guests.

How could AI affect hotel revenue management?

Gardner expects AI to conduct much of the research currently handled by hotel revenue managers and potentially implement pricing decisions itself as systems become more advanced. He described the possibility of some traditional revenue-management responsibilities becoming significantly reduced further down the line.

What service challenge does Vietnam hospitality need to address?

Gardner highlighted limited English-language capability outside major centres such as Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hanoi as an important challenge for international tourism. He believes stronger language skills and AI-assisted translation could make communication easier and improve guest satisfaction.

Why does Gardner favour higher-value tourism?

Gardner questions whether tourism success should depend primarily on total arrival numbers and argues that attracting visitors who stay longer, spend more and use higher-end accommodation could provide greater economic value. His argument effectively shifts the focus from pure visitor volume towards the quality and financial contribution of tourism demand.

How important is infrastructure to Vietnam tourism?

Gardner sees airports, expressways and railways as major drivers that could open the country further to tourism and improve connectivity between destinations. However, he emphasises that successful airport development also depends on road and rail access, making infrastructure improvement an interconnected, longer-term process.

What sustainability issues did Gardner highlight?

He stressed the need for stronger environmental compliance beyond international hotels and pointed to renewable energy, recycling of water and wider community environmental standards as areas requiring attention. He also warned that visibly poor environmental conditions can negatively influence visitors and their willingness to return.

What is Gardner’s overall outlook for Vietnam tourism?

Despite identifying significant challenges, Gardner remains confident and positive about Vietnam’s tourism future. He sees technology, infrastructure and hospitality growth creating considerable potential, provided the country continues addressing service, access, environmental and transport issues that affect the complete visitor experience.