Hanoi urged to improve tourism to lure more visitors

The Hanoi tourism sector should invest more in tourism products and infrastructure to improve the quality of Hanoi tourism in order to attract more visitors to the capital city.

Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai speaks at the meeting with Hanoi Tourism Department on March 13, 2019. (Photo: Ha Noi Moi)
Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai speaks at the meeting with Hanoi Tourism Department on March 13, 2019. (Photo: Ha Noi Moi)

The requirement was made by Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee, Hoang Trung Hai, during his working session with the city’s Tourism Department on Hanoi tourism development in 2019 and the following years.

According to Hai, the city’s tourism sector contributes 4.15% of the direct value to Hanoi’s GDP, while the indirect value rate is at 10.12%, which indicates that the potential for Hanoi tourism development is still huge. Compared with other localities, Hanoi tourism has a great competitive advantage, therefore the industry needs to exploit its advantages and invest more in its development in the near future, the Politburo member suggested.

In the immediate future, the city’s tourism industry should improve its State management work, while coordinating with other districts and towns to survey each destination for a proper investment, Hai said, urging the city authorities concerned to accelerate the progress of local tourism infrastructure projects to soon complete them and put them into use.

He also proposed that the local tourism sector coordinates with the relevant departments and other sectors to strengthen communications on Hanoi tourism through information technology systems. Recently, services on Hanoi food, transportation, accommodation and shopping have been made available online and resulted in positive effects, which needs to be promoted in the future, Hai suggested.

In the first two months of 2019, Hanoi welcomed nearly 4.9 million visitors, up 10.7% over the same period last year, of which, international travellers were estimated at 1.15 million, up16.5%. Total revenue from tourists during Jan-Feb was estimated at over VND17.3 trillion (US$748.5 million), up 34.7% over the same period last year.

In 2019, Hanoi tourism targets to attract over 28.9 million visitors, an increase of 10.1% compared to 2018, including over seven million international visitors, up 17%, while aiming for total revenue from tourism reaching VND103.8 trillion, an increase of 34%.