Representatives from associations of tourism, travel and hotels and tourism businesses nationwide have gathered in Hanoi for a seminar on how to strengthen the performance of tourism associations in a bid to promote sustainable tourism.

The October 9 seminar was part of the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development project to intensify the public-private dialogue mechanism at national and local levels.

Jim Flannery from the EU-funded project stressed the need to raise capacity of organisations in both public and private areas in order to increase the attractiveness of country’s tourism.

He suggested Vietnam re-establish groups of local tourism associations in seven key tourism areas outlined in the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy to 2020 with a vision to 2030, and review and strengthen responsible tourism-related laws, and enhance the role of the Vietnam Tourism Association.

The EU-funded project is the biggest progamme on technical assistance for tourism in Vietnam, aiming at mainstreaming responsible principles into the tourism sector in order to enhance the competitiveness of the industry.

The EUR 11-million programme has been implemented by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in the 2011-2015 period.-VNA