Campaign promotes Vietnam’s tourism potential in China

A program to promote Vietnam’s tourism in China took place in the country’s Liaoning province – its last stop, drawing hundreds of travel and media agencies on November 23.

The event was organized by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

VNAT Deputy Director General Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong highlighted China as one of the key markets of Vietnam’s tourism.

A tourism site in Quang Binh province

In the first ten months this year, 2.2 million Chinese tourists came to Vietnam, up 55 percent from the same period last year.

The number is expected to reach between 2.5 and 2.6 million this year, Huong said, stressing that it is a modest figure compared to more than 100 million Chinese travelling abroad each year.

This year, the VNAT has held a series of tourism promotion events in China, mostly in Guilin city, Guangdong province; Changchun city in Jilin province; and Dalian in Liaoning province, according to Huong.

The events at all three localities focused on introducing sea tourism in destinations with warm climate and direct flight services such as Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc.

In Guilin, the program contributed to drawing public attention to the launching of the direct air service connecting Guilin and Nha Trang city in the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

The tourism sector also plans to introduce other destinations, such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh and other mountainous provinces to the Chinese market.

VNAT will work closely with localities to diversify tourism services and shopping malls to meet the demand of Chinese tourists who spend much on shopping.

The agency will conduct training courses to increase the number of Chinese language tour guides as well as to enhance their capability.