VNAT holds seminar on Indian tourist market

On 11 Dec 2014, Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) held a seminar on Indian tourist market with the participation of leaders of VNAT’s Departments; representatives of travel companies and tourism facilities in Hanoi.
The seminar focused on introducing particular trait and development trend of the Indian market, experiences of foreign countries in attracting Indian visitors and proposing tourism products suitable for Indian visitors.
According to statistics of Indian Tourism Ministry, in 2012 the number of Indian outbound tourists accounted for 1.2% of the population. UNWTO forecasted the number would increase to 50 million arrivals by 2020. International travel expenditure of India (excluding transport) reached US$ 12.3 billion in 2012, is expected to reach US$ 28 billion by 2020 and US$ 91.2 billion by 2030.
Indian tourists tend to choose Asian countries as their leading destinations because of close geography, culture and suitable tourism products and prices. Indian visitors love shopping, outdoor activities, visiting museums and war relics, and discovering new destinations. Besides, security, safety and food also affect the decision of Indian visitors to choose destination.
In 11 months of 2014, Viet Nam welcomed approximately 50,000 Indian arrivals which was very few compared with Indian tourists traveling abroad. The main reasons were inconvenience of visa procedure and aviation connectivity between Viet Nam and India.
At the seminar, the delegates proposed to strengthen connectivity between tourism enterprises and VNAT to exchange information and practical experiences in order to improve efficiency of Viet Nam tourism promotion overseas and in India; select specific segments suitable with actual conditions of Viet Nam tourism.
Recently, Viet Nam organized different promotion activities to boost attracting Indian tourists such as conferences, roadshows, famtrips and presstrips. Moreover, tourism has been given a high priority in the talks of senior officials of the two countries.