Vietnam plans international tourism push
HANOI - The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) plans to open its first two international representative offices in Japan and France to further promote the country's image as an attractive tourism destination, said VNAT's deputy general director Pham Tu on Thursday at a seminar in Hanoi.
Tu made the statement at a conference to review the development and accomplishments of VNAT since its inception 44 years ago.
He said the tourism industry expected to lure about 3.5 million foreign tourists and roughly 17 million domestic ones, resulting in US$2.5 billion of revenue by 2005.
Tu said the industry had predicted that by 2010, international visitors would number 6 million and domestic tourists would reach 25 million, resulting in $4.5 billion in total revenue.
"The industry plans to become a spearhead of the country's economic growth and contribute to making Vietnam into a formidable center of tourism, trade and service in the region by 2010," Tu said.
To reach these targets, the industry has begun organizing and participating in international and domestic fairs to further promote traditional festivals and big events, he said.
In addition, VNAT's general director Vo Thi Thang said that tourism development needs to be tied in with the development of cultural activities, traditional festivals, biology and environmental protection.
The industry must also boost cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam Airlines and other relevant offices to accelerate tourism promotion activities, she said.
Another industry focus involves enhancing the quality of service at hotels, restaurants and on tour routes.
In the past four years the industry has invested nearly VND1.6 trillion ($102 million) in 385 projects spread over 53 cities and provinces, to improve infrastructure.
Of this, the largest amount, VND500 billion, was allocated for use in 2004, Thang said.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) also played a significant role in the development of the tourism industry. From 1998 to 2003, around 215 FDI projects with a total investment capital of $5.9 billion have been granted licenses, said Thang.
In the first six months of this year, two more FDI projects worth $107 million were licensed.
Thang said the governments of Luxembourg, Japan, Germany, France, Spain and Singapore, along with other foreign organizations, have donated tens of millions of dollars to help develop the industry.
Thang called for faster equitization of state-owned enterprises to lure more money for expanding tourism companies' financial resources as well as building up regionally and internationally competitive conglomerates.
Some key markets that the industry should focus on are China, Japan, South Korea, the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia, she said.
Meanwhile, Tu said Vietnam hopes to attract 500,000 Japanese tourists and 300,000 Koreans per year following the government's decision to exempt visas for visitors from these countries.
Tourism in Vietnam is still a fledging industry that lags about 20 years behind other regional countries, Tu said.
On average, a visitor travelling to Vietnam spends about $400-$450, while in another country that amount is closer to $750.
Despite this, Vietnam has seen tremendous development in luring overseas tourists in recent years.
In 1994, Vietnam for the first time attracted a million foreign visitors. By 2000, it was attracting 2 million visitors per year, and that number is expected to increase to 3 million by 2005, Tu said.
He said that during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, foreign visitors to Vietnam dropped only 7% below the yearly target, while in the rest of the region tourism numbers dropped by 14%.
In the first half of this year, Vietnam welcomed about 1.4 million overseas visitors and 6.6 million domestic ones, increases of 30% and 10%, respectively, over the same period last year, Tu said.
During this period, the industry's total revenue increased by 30% to VND13.2 trillion.
Asia Times - July 13, 2004.
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