Delegates at the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Tourism (Photo: VNA) Quang Ninh (VNA) – Vietnam has promptly seized every opportunity to promotetourism as the country is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Year 2017, said an official.
Tourism hasbeen considered a key factor in selecting venues and agenda for the APEC Year2017 events, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Huynh Vinh Ai said.
The dialogueand the Technical Workshop on Sustainable Tourism organised within theframework of the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 1) in the centralcoastal province of Khanh Hoa in February, are among initiatives put forth byVietnam to contribute to boosting tourism cooperation among APEC membereconomies while responding to the International Year of Sustainable Tourism forDevelopment set by the United Nations, he stressed.
Tourismdevelopment will continue to be included in the upcoming APEC events, particularlyin the framework of the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, which is scheduled totake place in the central city of Da Nang in November.
The ten venuesto host APEC Year 2017 events are those with renowned tourism attractions andcultural values across the nation, including Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, ThuaThien Hue, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City.
The deputyminister noted that during the official APEC 2017 events, Vietnam has introducedthe images of its people, landscapes, cultural values and high-endinfrastructure facilities to participating international delegates.
Besides, thetourism sector has also organised numerous activities to boost interactionsbetween APEC delegates and local communities such as free tours to populardestinations, offering souvenirs, photo exhibitions, among others, he added.
Vietnam hasregularly and actively participated in mostly all important activities of APECtourism cooperation with APEC member economies. To date, Vietnam has exemptedentry visa for nine member economies and implemented electronic visas for threeother economies, creating favourable conditions for travelers.
In 2016, topten source tourism markets of Vietnam are APEC member economies. Vietnamwelcomed a record number of 10 million international visitors in the year,including over 8.1 million foreign tourists, or 81 percent from APECeconomies, including China, Russia, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea andthe US.-VNA
