Vietnam joins ASEAN efforts to recover tourism services
VOV.VN - ASEAN member states, including Vietnam, have discussed potential measures to attract more tourists moving into the post-COVID period, as well as ensuring safe tourism amid the emergence of new sub-variants.
These issues were tabled for discussions at the 56th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Tourism which was held online on July 5 - 6 and presided over by Indonesia.
The ultimate goal of the bloc is to revitalise the tourism industry and restore the number of visitors to pre-pandemic levels, they said.
ASEAN officials agreed to diversify tourism products, promote marketing campaigns, improve tourism connectivity, and apply more digital systems to allow tourists to gain easy access to information.
Furthermore, the bloc will work alongside dialogue partners and international organisations to strengthen tourism activities and make it easier for tourists to travel.
Addressing the meeting, Ha Van Sieu, vice chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), expressed pleasure that ASEAN member states have gradually eased travel conditions in order to connect tourism and facilitate travel among regional countries.
Vietnam is currently vice chair of the ASEAN Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism Development Committee. It is also the lead country for project Developing Festival Tourism Products and is drafting festival tours to regional countries.
Sieu welcomed ideas which seek to co-operate more effectively and promote the project.
The country initially began to reopen for international tourists from March 15, with the number of foreign arrivals reaching roughly 602,000 during the initial six months of the year, a figure 6.8 times higher compared to the same period from last year.
Similar to other ASEAN member states, Vietnam expected to attract tourists from not only regional countries, but also from different countries and territories worldwide, he said.
VOV