Associations shake hands to promote local tourism

Terrace fields in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – Tourism associations in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang city and the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ha Giang and Phu Yen gathered at a cooperation programme held in HCM City on July 18 to promote local tourism.

Vice Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association Nguyen Thi Khanh said the tourism sector and businesses have a common goal of stimulating domestic tourism in the face of complicated COVID-19 developments.

The programme will help connect travel firms to develop tourism between localities in the Northern, Central and Southern regions, she added.

The participating associations will support businesses to popularise destinations and new tourism products, according to Khanh.

The tourism sector is making concerted efforts to recover after a stagnant stage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on promoting domestic travel while preparing to welcome foreign arrivals.

The Vietnam Tourism Association is running a nationwide "Vietnam – a bright destination" programme that lasts from May 15 until the end of the year. It aims at stimulating demand while ensuring safety for visitors, reducing prices but sustaining service quality or keeping prices unchanged but adding more services.
Many popular tour providers, such as Saigontourist, Vietrantour, Vietravel, and Hanoi Redtours have joined the programme by launching numerous packages with discounts of up to 40 percent that targets travelling groups of at least six members and flying with Vietnam Airlines.

2019 is considered a successful year for Vietnam's tourism. The country was ranked seventh among the world’s 20 fastest growing travel destinations, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). In the year, the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam increased by 16.2 percent year-on-year  to 18 million.

In 2020, Vietnam aims to attract 20.5 million international visitors and 90 million domestic ones. However, this target is unlikely to achieve due to the serious impact of COVID-19, which has been largely brought under control at home but is still developing complicatedly in other countries./.