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The event was held by the Embassy of Vietnam in Thailand in partnership with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Tourism Council of Thailand to introduce Vietnam as a friendly country with socio-political stability and beautiful landscapes and seek ways to enhance destination linkages and improve tours.
According to the VNAT, Vietnam welcomed approximately 10 million foreign visitors, including 200,000 Thai nationals, in the first eight months of 2017, up 23 percent from the same period last year. The country expects to receive 3 more million tourists by the end of this year.
Speaking at the event, VNAT Deputy Director Ha Van Sieu highly spoke of Thailand’s initiatives to link tourist destinations of countries within the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) and CLMVT, such as East-West Corridor and Heritage Journey.
Thanks to the initiatives, Vietnam and Thailand are able to take advantages of their strengths to make visitors stay longer, Sieu said, adding that there should be closer coordination between relevant authorities and travel agencies from the two sides alongside more open policies of the two governments.
Head of the Tourism Council of Thailand Pichai Raktasinha said Vietnam’s tourism industry has been on the right track, reflected by an increasing number of international tourist arrivals in recent years.
But the goal to attract 13 million foreign travellers this year does not match the country’s great potentials in tourism. So that, Vietnam needs to do better in tourism promotional programmes in a bid to bring it closer to international friends, he suggested.
Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang urged the two nations to step up cooperation in tourism to promote “Two Countries, One Destination” when they are enjoying strong development in their relations, particularly in terms of economy, trade and politics.
