The opening ceremony of the 2017 National Tourism Year (Source: VNA) The opening ceremony was attended by representatives from theParty and Government, local officials and cultural counsellors from Laos,Thailand, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.
With the theme of “Northwest colours”, the National Tourism Year offers a goodchance for regional localities to introduce and promote their tourism potentialand strengths, thus attracting more and more domestic and internationalvisitors. It also serves a bridge to boost tourism cooperation among localitiesnationwide.
In his opening speech, Nguyen Van Binh, head the Party Central Committee’sEconomic Commission and the Steering Committee forthe Northwestern Region, highlighted the significance of the event, sayingthat it aims to start a wide range of activities towards realising the targetof turning tourism into a spearhead economic sector of the nation.
He expressed his belief that tourism in the region in particular and Vietnam ingeneral will make breakthrough developments in 2017.
However, he noted that tourism development in Vietnam is still yet to match thepotential and advantages, citing limitations in the quality of tourismproducts, human resources, infrastructure and environmental sanitation.
To raise Vietnamese tourism’s competitiveness, he called for the determinationand engagement of the whole political system in solving difficulties facing thesector and facilitating tourism development.
Dang Xuan Phong, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, stressed that theregion always welcomes visitors from Vietnam and other parts of the world,saying that he believes the targets of the 2017 National Tourism Year will be realisedsuccessfully, promoting sustainable tourism development in the region andaffirming its position in the country’s tourism map.
After the opening ceremony, visitors enjoyed an art performance by 100 artistswith traditional songs and dances featuring diverse cultural identities of morethan 30 ethnic groups in the northwestern region.
The northwest region comprises eight provinces, namelyDien Bien, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Son La and PhuTho.-VNA
VNA
