According to Minister of Sport, Culture and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien, there will be still a lot of work to be done in the last months of this year, however, the tourism sector must consider it one of the top priorities to be completed in the remaining months of the year."The tourism sector has received the special attention of the Party, the Government and the whole society so that we need to do our utmost to meet the targets assigned by the Government, contributing to the overall growth of the nation," he said.
Thien required the Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to assign tasks clearly for relevant agencies to accomplish this task, including the enhancement of tourism promoting and cooperation with tour operators to closely track market movements in the localities to timely work out solutions for increasing the number of international visitors.
He suggested that VNAT should focus on promoting and attracting visitors from strategic and near markets, including China, South Korea, Japan, South East Asia countries and Russia.
"We should focus resources on potential and near markets that can help us increase the number of tourists immediately, " Thien emphasized.
In addition, he also noted that tourism industry should consider the occasion of APEC meeting in Vietnam’s Da Nang City in November a golden opportunity for tourism and need to have plans to attract tourists on this occasion.
Hoi An Ancient Town in the central Quang Nam province is considered a haven for shopping with great souvenirs, handicrafts, antiques, silk and art paintings.
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The tourism sector should also improve its human resources, particularly the quality of tour guides, he said.
According to a representative from the Vietnam Aviation Administration (VAA), big investment has been made to upgrade infrastructure at Vietnam’s tourism destinations, including several new airports.
VAA has made efforts to support the tourism sector and will continue working with tourist agencies if necessary.
Experts said that priority should also be given to raising the awareness of the importance of tourism in socio-economic development.
Supervision should be strengthened while local administrations enhance their management of tourism sites, products and local tourism associations.
Up to September, Vietnam welcomed 9.45 million foreign visitors, up 28.4 percent year on year, and served 57.9 million domestic ones. The sector earned VND376 trillion (US$16.54 million), up 26.5 percent from the same period last year.
