The diplomat made the statement at a conference on Vietnam-India tourism cooperation in Hanoi on March 7, which was part of activities in celebration of 45 years of bilateral diplomatic ties (January 7, 1972-2017) and 10 years of the strategic partnership between the two countries (2007-2017).
The number of Indian tourists to Vietnam recorded an impressive growth over recent years, from 33,000 in 2010 to 85,000 in 2016, up 30% against 2015, but only accounted for about 3% of Indian arrivals to ASEAN countries, he said.
The Indian government has applied electronic visas to a number of international tourist markets, including Vietnam, the ambassador noted, expressing his wish that with convenient visa application procedures, more Vietnamese people will choose India as an ideal travel destination.
Addressing the event, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong emphasised that Vietnam-India tourism ties have been growing strongly over the past years, alongside the development of traditional friendly relations and strategic partnership.
Many tourism promotion and cooperation activities, in both the bilateral and multilateral frameworks, have been effectively implemented, gathering the active participation of both countries’ agencies, associations and tourist businesses, she said.
Huong revealed that in the time ahead, alongside traditional tourism promotion channels, the VNAT will accelerate the application of electronic marketing and the regular organisation of exchange and cooperation activities with both Vietnamese and Indian enterprises, film companies, media agencies and travel agencies, thereby contributing to increasing the exchange of tourists between the two countries.
At the conference, the two sides advertised their respective nation’s landscapes and tourism potential to tourist businesses and correspondents in attendance.
