Tourism sector goes ahead with programme of action

      Despite the far-reaching impact of the global economic crunch, the tourism sector has shown its resolve to serve 4.5 million foreign and 21 million domestic holiday-makers this year.
Its promotion campaign “Impressive Vietnam” which was launched four months ago, has begun to pay off, paving the way for the sector to go ahead with the second phase of its programme of action, starting in May and ending in September.
The promotion campaign has attracted 118 hotels, 85 travel agents, 14 shopping malls and three transport companies, including the national aviation corporation – Vietnam Airlines. More than 300 promotional tours have been announced.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy general director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism granted an interview to VOV, talking about the initial results of the campaign and the sector’s future plans to attract visitors.
VOV: Could you please give us a brief on the results of the campaign?
Mr Cuong: This is the first promotional campaign for the tourism sector, to be simultaneously carried out by all businesses involved in travel, transport, shopping and other services. Never before have we had such close cooperation between these businesses aimed at halting a drop in the number of foreign visitors and increasing the number of domestic visitors.
VOV: What is the sector’s goal in the coming time?
Mr Cuong: We offer discounts, but at the same time we are strongly committed to maintaining and increasing the quality of services to cater to visitors’ diverse tastes.
VOV: What are the main challenges facing the tourism sector at present?
Mr Cuong: Beside the global economic crisis which has taken its toll on Vietnam, we are facing new threats from influenza A/H1N1. This is a big challenge which requires travel companies to work closely to effectively implement the programmes of action launched by the tourism sector and the national steering committee for influenza prevention and control.
VOV: What are your solutions to keep up the number of foreign visitors coming to Vietnam?
Mr Cuong: In addition to stepping up tourism promotion and increasing the quality of tourist services, the most important thing is to create a new image for the Vietnamese tourism sector. We need to have new products and tours that are really attractive to foreign visitors. The second thing is that we have to be well prepared for difficulties and challenges lying ahead so that we will maintain a balance between foreign and domestic holiday-makers, helping travel companies to maintain growth and get stable revenue.
VOV: In the second phase, the sector aims to increase the number of domestic holiday-makers. What are you going to do to meet the target?
Mr Cuong: There are many big anniversaries in 2009, so we need to incorporate tourism promotion activities into these events to attract visitors. Recently, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Nghe An and HCM City have launched a series of cultural and tourism festivals, attracting a large number of domestic holiday-makers, helping the tourism sector to maintain growth in the past months. It’s time we changed our mind about domestic visitors’ contribution to the tourism sector..