A crowd of experts, researchers, scholars and managers working in tourism from Asia, America and Europe gathered at a recent event in Ho Chi Minh City to contribute their ideas on how to promote tourism globalisation and localisation.

The conference, co-organised by Sai Gon Culture, Arts and Tourism and Charles De Gaulle-Lille 3 University of France, received over 150 papers, focusing on Vietnam’s tourism in the context of tourism globalisation and localisation, and issues related to travel, hotel and restaurant services, and human resources training in the field.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh, in his speech, highlighted the strong growth of Vietnam’s tourism industry in recent years, and underlined the country’s goal to turn tourism into its spearhead economic sector.

Dr. Vu Khac Chuong, rector of the Sai Gon Culture, Art and Tourism College said while globalisation is an irreversible trend, it does not mean the unique characteristics of each culture and region should fall into oblivion. Rather, globalisation means the establishment of universal values and standards while the specific values of each culture continue to be reiterated and preserved.

Participants agreed that tourism globalisation is based on promoting globally the respect for and preservation of unique values of cultures and ecological systems, thus creating appropriate actions for sustainable tourism development.-VNA