PANO – The Ministry of Cultural, Sports and Tourism celebrated the 55th anniversary of Vietnam's tourism industry in Hanoi on July 8th in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.

Over the past years, the industry has obtained many achievements, making considerable contributions to the national socio-economic development.

On this occasion, the ministry presented the 2014 Vietnam Tourism Award to 80 local travel agencies to acknowledge their effective contributions to developing the tourist sector.

The same day, Vietnam declared visa exemption for citizens of Belarus, the UK, France, Spain and Italy to draw more tourists from the Europe to the country.

Translated by Pham Huy