Vietnam’s tourism industry this year is planning to establish cooperation schemes and agreements with foreign partners to enhance its development, said the industry administrator.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the sector will focus on neighboring countries, while still attaching special importance to Vietnam’s major markets of France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as potential new markets like Russia and Latin American nations.
Over the past years, Vietnam has recognized the importance of foreign cooperation in tourism development. However, the country has not paid much more attention to it, an official from VNAT said.
“Foreign partners often highly appreciate tourism potential in Vietnam. So it is wonderful for us to boost the ties. International cooperation would bring more opportunities to develop hospitality, as well as to compete with rivals,” he added.
Vietnam’s tourism sector will strongly develop in the coming years, with an average annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent during the 2007-2016 period, the “Le Jeune Independent” Daily quoted the World Travel and Tourism Council as saying.
“Vietnam has a huge tourism potential and the country’s WTO accession signaled that Vietnam is ready to receive foreign investment in this field,” Rick Mayor-Smith, one of the founders of the Indochina Capital investment fund said, adding that closer ties with foreign partners would help Vietnam become one of the highest tourism growth countries in Asia.
In 2006, the VNAT signed eight additional tourism cooperation agreements with foreign partners, bringing the total number of its bilateral tourism cooperation deals to 37, the official revealed.
Tourism industry, which contributes 8 per cent to the country’s GDP is currently considered one of the key economic sectors of Vietnam. (Vietnam & World Economy, Labour)
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