Over 100 representatives from the tourism sector met in central coastal
Khanh Hoa province on June 9 in a seminar discussing how Vietnam can
become a more attractive destination for foreign cruise tourists.
The seminar, themed “Developing cruise tourism,” was organised by the
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) in conjunction with
the People’s Committee of Khanh Hoa province.
Tourism officials were joined at the discussions by economic experts and
members of domestic and international travel agencies.
Addressing the event, VNAT Director General Nguyen Van Tuan stressed
the important position of Vietnam on the East Sea transport
line and declared that this would be advantageous to the country in its
bid to develop cruise tourism.
According to VNAT
statistics, Vietnam greeted over 285,000 cruise travellers in 2012,
six times more than in 2011. In the first five months of this year, the
number was already 51 percent higher than in the same period last year.
The number of tourists was unstable, sometimes
dropped drastically since 1999, due to the global economic downturn and
Vietnam’s unattractive programmes to attract travel agencies and
tourists.
A representative from the Singapore
Tourism Board said that cruise tourism is becoming increasingly popular
in Asia and Vietnam and other coastal ASEAN countries should
capitalise. They revealed that 25 new ships will be built in the
continent, increasing the capacity in the cruise tourism sector by 15
percent before 2017.
The representative suggested
Vietnam invest promptly in upgrading its infrastructure, technology and
human resources, while also implementing reforms to customs procedures.
Participants at the seminar also discussed how the country
could diversify the activities it offers tourists and enhance its image
internationally to potential visitors. They exchanged their knowledge
and experience and proposed the creation of a market resource network
for cruise travellers.-VNA