Tourism joint ventures gain access to outbound segment

Tourism joint ventures between local and foreign investors can arrange outbound tours from next Monday for Vietnamese and foreigners living and working in Vietnam, a segment so far privileged for local companies only, a tourism official said on Wednesday.
Vu The Binh, head of the Travel Department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, told that the department on Wednesday met with representatives of these joint ventures in Hanoi to give detailed guidance on the expanded scope for such tour operators.
According to the guidance, joint venture tour operators with foreign involvement can start outbound business as early as August 10, a move aimed at creating a level-playing field for all travel firms, he said.
“We now allow joint ventures to offer all kinds of outbound tours to any destinations like local companies,” Binh said.
The guidance was launched one month after Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung had agreed to a proposal by joint venture companies to run this kind of travel. Prevailing rules allow these firms to arrange inbound tours only for foreigners in Vietnam.
In fact, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, aware of the decline in international tourist arrivals, had submitted a plan to the Prime Minister in May to help the tourism sector overcome the difficulties, and the new incentive was also included in the ministry’s plan.
Binh said that six out of the total number of 12 joint venture travel firms in Vietnam sent their representatives to the meeting. “They were pleased with the new rule allowing them to make outbound tours. Benefits from outbound tours will help them cope with the decline in revenue,” he said.
Binh said that such joint ventures had better advantages when arranging outbound tours.
“They will find it easier to attract outbound tourists who are employees in foreign-invested companies in Vietnam. Furthermore, these travel firms also enjoy wide business networks and have good partners in their resident countries as destinations for outbound tourists from Vietnam,” he said.
However, Binh projected that the new rule would not trigger any harsh competition between foreign-invested joint ventures and local tour operators in the outbound segment, because local companies had their own partners and customers as they had started such tours since many years ago. “They understand the market and tourist demand so they can compete,” Binh said.