Vietnam promotes tourism at ASEAN Tourism Forum 2020

Attractive destinations and various tourism products and services of Vietnam were introduced to international friends at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2020 held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, on January 16.

Visitors at Hoi An Ancient Town in Quang Nam Province. (Photo: NDO/Thanh Tung)
Visitors at Hoi An Ancient Town in Quang Nam Province. (Photo: NDO/Thanh Tung)

At the event, Tran Phong Binh, Deputy Head of the Tourism Market Department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said that tourism is considered an important economic sector of Vietnam.

Vietnam tourism concluded 2019 with 18 million international tourists, recording a 16.2% increase over the previous period. It won multiple World Travel Awards last year, with the Top 4 awards in Asia 2019, including Vietnam – Asia’s Leading Destination 2019, Vietnam – Asia’s Leading Cultural Destination 2019, Vietnam – Asia’s Leading Culinary Destination 2019, and Hoi An, Vietnam – Asia’s Leading Cultural City 2019. In particular, Vietnam was also honoured with the awards for the World's Leading Heritage Destination 2019 and World's Best Golf Destination 2019.

Over recent years, the Government of Vietnam has issued a spate of important policies covering visa facilitation and the improvement of tourism development environment to further develop tourism in the new international context. As of February 2019, Vietnam's e-visa is available to nationals of 80 countries, and as of January 2020, it has also applied visa exemption for citizens from 24 countries.

Vietnam aims to welcome 20.5 million international tourists in 2020. The major source markets are Northeast Asia (China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China)), Southeast Asia (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia) and Europe (Russia, UK, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy, etc.). Marketing activities will be also expanded to Australia, North America and India for further market expansion.

Representatives from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism introduce Vietnamese tourism at the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2020 in Brunei. (Photo: NDO/Hanh Hien)

A number of various events in 2020, including the Vietnam International Travel Mart from April 1-4, Hue Festival from April 1-6, the Hanoi Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Da Nang Fireworks Festival 2020, as well as a wide range of activities scheduled to be held in the year as Vietnam takes over the Chairmanship of ASEAN 2020, especially the 36th ASEAN Summit in Da Nang in April and the 37th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi in November, are expected to become highlights to attract more tourists, the media and international partners to Vietnam.

To achieve its goals, VNAT will carry out various international-oriented communication campaigns, including the #VietnamNOW campaign, while focusing on promoting the nation’s historical culture, heritages and natural assets, alongside the National Tourism Year Hoa Lu - Ninh Binh 2020.

VNAT Deputy Director General Ha Van Sieu said that Vietnam's tourism success has benefited greatly from promotional activities with the participation of international media. Vietnam has regularly organised surveys and fam trip delegations for famous journalists and bloggers from foreign countries to introduce Vietnamese destinations to the world.

Within the framework of the ATF 2020, which took place from January 12 to 16, Vietnam organised multiple activities to promote its tourism, including opening booths at the ATF Travel Exchange (TRAVEX) fair, one of the main activities of the ATF.

At this year’s forum, besides the four main product lines introduced, including island tourism, cultural tourism, eco-tourism and urban tourism, Vietnam also provided information to partners about the 2020 National Tourism Year Hoa Lu - Ninh Binh and other auxiliary tourism products, such as sports and golf tourism.