Viet Nam News
HA NOI — The Viet Nam International Travel Mart 2018 (VITM) began yesterday in Ha Noi, drawing tourism, cuisine and culture lovers.
This year, VITM features more than 670 businesses including travel companies, hotels, hospitality services providers and tourism promotion centres from 21 countries and territories and 45 provinces and cities of Viet Nam.
This year’s theme "Online tourism – Viet Nam tourism makes an advance on 4.0 Industry" is part of the tourism industry’s efforts to promote 4.0 technology for economic growth, as instructed by the Government.
Attending the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said he was pleased with the fast growth of the Vietnamese tourism industry.
“We want to join hands with international partners and regional economies to boost the development of tourism,” he said.
“This year, we will discuss the role of 4.0 technology in developing tourism. We will take full advantage of technology to connect peoples, organisations, countries and enterprises and to develop tourism.”
VITM includes dozens of seminars, workshops, round-table meetings, and press conferences among other events, facilitating tourism businesses and experts’ discussions, recommendations and proposals on tourism policies, professionalism and skills.
Key events include an online tourism forum, a symposium on "Conservation and Development of Traditional Vietnamese Food Culture" and a tourism start-ups forum.
In addition, tourism businesses and airlines will offer thousands of promotional tours and discounted airline tickets, aiming to boost the number of domestic and inbound visitors.
“Tourism has proves itself to be a sector which rapidly and effectively applies information technology in every activity,” said Vu The Binh, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Tourism Association (VITA), co-organiser of the event.
Ngo Van Quy, vice chairman of the Ha Noi People’s Committee, said VITM is the largest international tourism fair in the country held annually from 2013 in Ha Noi.
“Through five successive years, the fair has affirmed itself as the leading tourism fair in the country and the region, contributing to promoting the image of the country and people of Viet Nam and Ha Noi in particular, with international friends, to enhance the position of Viet Nam’s tourism in the region and to attract many tourist organisations, international and domestic tourism businesses to participate in, buy and sell tourism products and services.”
In recent years, the tourism industry in the city has developed rapidly.
The number of international visitors to Ha Noi has increased by an average of 20-23 per cent each year over the last five years and accounted for about 40 per cent of international visitors to Viet Nam.
In 2017, the capital received 23.83 million visitors, up 9 per cent compared to 2016, accounting for 27.1 per cent of the country’s tourists, of which international tourists reached 4.95 million, up 23 per cent from 2016.
In the first two month of 2018, tourists arrivals to Ha Noi continued to grow, reaching 4.46 million, up 11 per cent from the same period last year. Notably, international tourists to the city reached 1.5 million, 31 per cent more year-on-year.
“With the development of tourism in recent years, Ha Noi ranked third in the most attractive tourist destinations in Asia and 12th in the best tourist destinations in the world according to according to the poll results of world famous travel site Trip Advisor,” said Quy.
“This result is recognition of the efforts of authorities and citizens of the capital to build a safe, friendly, quality and attractive tourist destination,” he continued.
Nasih Moosa, managing director of UI Hotels Group from Maldives, attended the VITM for the first time. He said the number of Vietnamese tourists to Maldives increases 25 per cent each year, which is why he attended the forum.
“Viet Nam is a promising market for us,” said Moosa. “During the first day of the VITM, I can invite visitors to come to our booth to learn more about tour packages and destinations in Maldives. We also exchange with partners from Viet Nam and other countries. It’s really a good place to boost tourism industry.”
VITM is not just a platform for travel agents and companies, it also features the culture of various countries through their booths.
Visitors can enjoy Thai massages, learn to make Korean souvenirs and try various cuisines from different regions of Viet Nam.
The event will run until April 1 at the Friendship Culture Palace, 91 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ha Noi. — VNS