Festival set to launch maritime brands

Vietnam has a pleasant sea with 3,260km of coast and many world-renowned bays and beaches including Ha Long, Lang Co, Quy Nhon and Mui Ne, which together create ample opportunities for the development of maritime-based economy, particularly beach tourism.
The Mui Ne - Binh Thuan International Sailing Festival, which will take place from December 8-11 in Mui Ne, Binh Thuan Province, is expected to contribute to improving Vietnamese maritime brand names.
At the press conference to present the 2010 Sailing Festival entitled, "Yachts-Sea-Sun", held on August 25 in Ho Chi Minh City, the organizing board said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam Olympic Committee, the Vietnam Administration of Sea and Islands, and the Binh Thuan Province People's Committee are cooperating to organize the festival to establish an international-standard sailing industry and invite global tourists to Mui Ne and Vietnam.
The 2010 Sailing Festival will host 26 sailing teams including from the UK, the US, Sweden, Germany, France, Japan and Republic of Korea. Events include an international sailboat performance/exhibition with sailing teams and about 150 companies/groups that make and sell sailboats worldwide, an international pop and rock music performance, a Vietnamese art performance, and a workshop on building Vietnamese sea-related brand names and marketing/advertising/selling Asian yachts.
Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the festival is part of a drive towards developing an international-standard yachting entertainment industry, advertising coastal tourism in Mui Ne and Vietnam, and implementing the Vietnamese maritime strategy until 2020, with the 2010 International Sailing Festival acting as an invaluable opportunity to honor and enrich Vietnamese tourist products, and display the potential, advantages and attractiveness of Vietnamese coastal tourism to foreigners.
The festival has caught attention of international organizations like the World Sailing Association and XT Asia Inc. (a global yacht tourism entertainment group). Roi Shuhami, the president of XT Asia Inc., said that with its ample natural assets and large workforce, Vietnam is a new, potential market for the international sailing entertainment tourist industry. Once Vietnam makes the most of the potential, it will become an international destination for world large companies/groups in the sailing entertainment and yacht production industries.
Roi Shuhami said that Vietnam has many advantages, and like Turkey, possesses ample attractive coastal areas, and a cheap workforce. Meanwhile, the yachting tourism industry and yacht building industry in Turkey turn over about US$15 billion annually. Including the related support industries, the total revenue comes to US$50 billion annually. Secondly, now that many countries, particularly those with advantageous yachting tourism and a strong yacht building industry like the US and France, are facing a global crisis, the tourism sector in Vietnam is less affected by the crisis, and the yachting tourism is developing, there is a big opportunity for Vietnam. If Vietnam learns from the experiences of other countries and works flexibly, the yachting tourism and yacht building industry will create high economic benefits and improve Vietnam's maritime-related brand names on the world tourism map.
Lam Quang Thanh, the deputy chairman of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, said that the 2010 International Sailing Festival will contribute to developing the maritime-based tourism and seeking business partners. The event designed to stimulate domestic and foreign investors/businesses to develop the sailing entertainment tourism industry in Vietnam in the near future. In particular, Vietnam has established a national sailing team for participation in the Second Asian Beach Games heralding Vietnam's presence in the world yachting tourism industry. Thanh also said that for the success to the festival, the Binh Thuan Province People's Committee is working together with the Ministry of Transport to build a marina in the Mui Be Bay area, with a capacity to receive about 200 international yachts. It is expected that the festival will be a large meeting place for Vietnamese and foreign guests and contribute to improving Vietnamese sea-related brand names.