Vietnam will hold major travel fair to boost tourism

A phenomenal 450 domestic and international tourism companies will attend an international tourism fair at Hanoi’s Vietnam Exhibition Fair Centre from April 3–6.The fair, jointly organised by the Vietnam Tourism Association, the General Department of Tourism, and the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM 2014), is the second of its kind and is expected to welcome 50,000 attendees.

The fair will be oriented around “Tourism Promotion – New Destination, New Opportunity, and Travelling for Sustainable Development”. It will cover domestic as well as inbound and outbound international tourism .A series of art performances and tourism seminars will also be held during the event.Vu The Binh, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said the fair provides space to promote new Vietnamese travel destinations in the Northwest, Northeast, Mekong Delta, and Central Highlands.

Meanwhile, cooperation for sustainable development in the greater Mekong sub-region (GMS) is one of the Vietnamese Government‘s top priorities-a key cooperation area between Vietnam and the US as well as in the framework of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI).Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong made the statement at a Washington DC forum on global measures for new technology application on January 15.

He said GMS, a key rice and aquatic product supplier of GMS countries and the world, is being seriously threatened by climate change, rising sea levels, and improper use of water resources upstream and downstream.

To ensure sustainable development in the region, the diplomat called on US enterprises, organizations and universities to join hand in conducting research and human resource training projects through the public-private partnership model.He suggested the designated agencies share data and experience, and transfer technology related to weather tolerance and high yielding crop varieties, human and animal vaccines, clean energy, and climate change adaptation and environmental protection programmes through green agricultural development.

Cuong was one of the keynote speakers at the forum organized by P80 Group Foundation which was founded by former heads of more than 90 states, including former US President Bill Clinton.Japan estimated to welcome around 80,000 Vietnamese travellers in 2013, up by a staggering rate of over 50% against 2012, while the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam was the third largest last year, said the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

Speaking at the tourism promotion seminar in Hanoi City on Wednesday, Vu The Binh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said that Japan has become an attractive destination for Vietnamese holiday-makers due to tourism promotion policies. Meanwhile, Japan has also become one of nations with biggest tourist numbers to Vietnam over the past years.

The association has plans to establish a Japan outbound club, grouping 25 leading travel firms to design Japan tours for Vietnamese guests. The association will also inaugurate a tourism representative office in Japan, the first overseas travel office of Vietnam.

With practical actions, it is expected that around one million Japanese travelers will visit Vietnam and 200,000 Vietnamese tourists will visit Japan in 2015 as targeted by the two nations, Binh said.Tour operators said Japan has become attractive to Vietnamese tourists thanks to spiritual tourism.