Tourism joint ventures in Vietnam involving foreign partners are calling for the government to scrap old regulations that prohibit them from providing outbound tours and serving local tourists.
Barriers erected by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) 10 years ago to protect domestic companies are still in place. They have restricted the maximum tenure of such joint ventures (JVs) to 10 years and stipulate they must have legal capital of US$1 million or more of which the Vietnamese partner must hold 51 per cent.
A VNAT official once explained that international travel JVs were allowed to be set up to make the most of the foreign partners’ capability to attract foreign visitors to Vietnam through inbound tours. Local travel companies were perfectly competent in organizing outbound and domestic tours for Vietnamese.
However, since the first international travel JV was established 13 years ago, 400 more have sprung up and these regulations are stymieing their expansion plans.
The Director of a travel JV in Hanoi lamented that whenever his company sought permission to expand it was denied by the VNAT.
Nguyen Van Cu, deputy Head of the Ho Guom-Diethelm Tourist JV asked: “Why we are prohibited from entering other fields even though we have the prestige and international brand name and meet all business requirements?”
Nguyen Van Tran of Apex Vietnam recalled the dreadful times when SARS broke out in 2003 and foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam and other Asian nations nose-dived.
“At that time, we asked VNAT to allow us to temporarily organize domestic tours to overcome difficulties but it still refused,” Tran said. The monthly salaries of the company’s staff had to be cut by 30 percent in 2003 and then by 25 percent in 2004 due to bird flu.
“It is simply to help us feed our staff if the government loosens operation regulations for such companies,” Tran said.
Tran Khang Thuy, Board Chairman of Exotissimo-Cesais said, “we have encouraged other tourism JVs to ask the VNAT and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to allow international tourism JVs to offer domestic travel services. They promised to bring this matter before the government but we have got no response until now,” he added.
At a conference held to discuss the implementation of the Tourism Law held in the Mekong Delta Can Tho city last month, Tran again asked the VNAT to allow travel JVs to organize both outbound and domestic tours, at least during the low season between May and September. However, the proposal has been approved.
"To further develop the country's tourism sector in general as well as promote Vietnam’s tourism image and prestige to the world, Vietnam should soon discuss and map out proper ways, creating favorable conditions for foreign travel firms when operating in the country as well as helping protect local firms," Tran Khang Thuy emphasized.
Vietnam now has almost 2,000 travel companies. The number of foreign travel ones, however, is not reported.
In 2006, Vietnam expects to cater 3.6-3.8 million foreign tourists and 16.7 million domestic vacationers with total revenue of VND36 trillion (US$2.28 billion), compared 3.34 million, 15 million and VND30 trillion (US$1.91 billion), respectively, achieved last year.
ThanhNien Online
Vietnamese
