Visitors tour Hue ancient capital of Vietnam (Source: VNA)
Paris (VNA) - A Vietnam tourism promotion drive, part of the National Tourism Programme 2015, has recently been launched in Paris, France.
Speaking at the event on November 9, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Ha Van Sieu introduced Vietnam’s efforts to lure French and European holidaymakers to Vietnam, including the recent visa exemptions for French, German, British, Spanish, Italian and Belarusian citizens starting from July 1.
According to a representative from the Vietnamese embassy in France, Vietnam served more than 213,000 French tourists last year, making France the largest European source of arrivals for the country.
During the event co-hosted by VNAT and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, a variety of tourism products and travel routes were introduced to visitors, including ecological tours of northern mountainous villages, hydroplane tours of Ha Long Bay, adventure tours of Phong Nha – Ke Bang and floating markets in the Mekong Delta.
A Vietnam Airlines representative also announced the recent operation of the top-class Airbus A350 on Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City – Paris routes.
Secretary General of the World Most Beautiful Bays’ Club Bruno Bodard said with Ha Long, Nha Trang and Lang Co Bays among the world’s most beautiful, Vietnam is well-positioned to draw foreign tourists.
Nguyen Van Thi, Marketing Director of the La Maison de I’Indochine, expressed her wish that the visa-free stay will last three weeks instead of the current two weeks, to make it easier for tourists to discover more sites in Vietnam.
The VNAT hosted a similar tourism promotion event at the World Travel Market held in early November in London.
More activities will be launched in Spain’s Barcelona and Germany’s Frankfurt in the foreseeable future.-VNA
