VN tourism promoted overseas

Viet Nam’s tourism sector concludes its 2009 tourism promotion campaign with prog-rammes in Taiwan and France, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
The eight-day promotion programme is taking place in the three Taiwanese cities of Taipei, Taizhong and Kaohsiung. During the programme, which will end on December 18, the VNAT representatives will meet with some 200 tourism businesses.
A similar programme will take place in Paris, France, from December 12-19, focusing on introducing the French public to the cultural identities, delicious dishes and famous destinations of Viet Nam.
The VNAT will work with around 300 French travel companies to seek co-operation opportunities.
"France and Taiwan are considered the Vietnamese tourism sector’s two largest markets. However, due to the impact of the global economic crisis, in the first 11 months this year, the number of arrivals from France and Taiwan has dropped by 3.7 per cent and 12.4 per cent, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
The sector expects that with the help of these promotion programmes, the number of French and Taiwanese tourists visiting Viet Nam would increase next year.
Under the strategic plan for tourism development, Viet Nam would attract from 7 to 8 million international tourists and 35 million local visitors each year by 2015 and 11-12 million international and 45-48 million local tourists by 2020.
In the plan, the tourism industry expects to reach a turnover of U$10-11 billion by 2015, $18-19 billion by 2020, and about $38 billion by 2030.
To reach these goals, VNAT director Nguyen Van Tuan emphasised the importance of building up and enhancing a trademark for the country’s hospitality sector, focusing on promotion activities, improving the capacities of the sector’s personnel resources as well as further diversifying tourism products.