Indochina determined to build single destination

Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are going to great lengths to realize the concept of a single destination, as tourism officials gathered here on Thursday to accelerate specific steps towards that goal.
Speaking to reporters at a press briefing after the opening of the International Travel Expo HCMC on Thursday, officials reiterated the tasks to build up the single destination among the three Indochina countries.
“We are here to confirm that we will join hands to build common products, and make joint marketing activities,” Tran Chien Thang, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told reporters, referring to the plan ‘Three Countries, One Destination.’
His confirmation was echoed by So Mara, secretary of state of Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism, who said that related agencies of the three countries would set up a website, a magazine, and make DVDs to promote products and tourist sites of the region.
The Cambodian official said that alongside joint efforts to develop common products, the three countries need to join hands in promotions and creation of suitable conditions for tourists to travel within the countries.
The initiative to develop Indochina as the single destination was first proposed in 2007. The three countries’ tourism ministries have inked a joint declaration on tourism cooperation, and agreed to link up efforts and resources to promote the region as a single tourism destination in the International Travel Expo HCMC in that year.
Tourism officials in the Travel Expo on Thursday agreed that these countries needed to sit down for discussions to make a single visa scheme for international tourists to travel through the three countries. The three governments should also issue visas at international airports to all foreign tourists to facilitate their travel in the region.
Thang of Vietnam said that the three countries had built good cooperation in recent years. Via joint activities, caravan tours among these three countries are on the increase, especially this year.
“We need to have more joint efforts to make common products to attract international tourists to the region as well as to speed up intra-Indochina tourism,” he said.
Thang said that Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia boast an abundance of cultural heritage sites, many of which are internationally recognized, so this is a strong advantage to build on in developing products and promoting the region’s image.
* The fifth international travel expo in HCMC on Thursday kicked off in the city with the participation of more than 110 international buyers and around 300 exhibitors, according to the organizer. Tourism buyers and sellers on Thursday started first meetings with their potential partners.
Nguyen Minh Quyen, deputy director of Ben Thanh Tourist Travel Service Center, told the Daily that his company has 40 scheduled meetings with buyers from the U.S., Germany, Australia, and other Southeast Asian countries.
“We will combine with other local partners to send guests to foreign partners in markets that we don’t have a firm foothold, and in return will receive inbound visitors from them. Foreign partners will also do the same thing,” he said.
The organizing committee of the travel expo last night gave the Tourism Alliances Awards to entrepreneurs of the three countries.