Nation mulls broader tourism cooperation

The national travel chief has confirmed broader cooperation with regional partners in promoting the industry, cultural identity of each country and working out specific products for sustainable development in the region.
The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh, made the statement before 300 senior travel officials from 17 countries and territories in Asia and the Pacific, international travel organisations, foreign diplomatic corps in Vietnam and the domestic hospitality industry at a meeting in Hanoi on May 10.
Tuan added the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) would work with the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in boosting the exchange of experiences in promoting tourist brand names and launching promotion campaigns.
Cooperation will also be sought for conducting feasibility surveys of virgin sites of great potential such as Ba Be and Thac Ba lakes as well as community tourism in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, the travel chief emphasised.
In the recent past, the UNWTO has helped Vietnam develop local traditional craft villages, boost MICE tourism and draft a tourism law.
At the meeting, policy makers, experts and entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry discussed measures to address challenges and increase the industry’s contributions to the socio-economic development such as jobs and income generation and poverty reduction.
Tourism nets 4.05 billion USD a year, ranking in the list of top five hard-currency earners in Vietnam.