(TITC) - On February 21, Deputy Director of Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Manh Cuong chaired the working session with delegation of UNWTO Regional Support Office for Asia and Pacific on "Maritime Silk Road" project. Representatives of departments of International Cooperation, Travel, Tourism Marketing (VNAT) attended the working session.
According to Mr. Kazuo Ichikawa, Maritime Silk Road has been shaped since 19th century. It was a trading route on the sea from Southern part of China to Europe via South East Asia, India, Middle East. Maritime routes in area were very complicated as many ships went by in the numerous port cities; people, materials and cultures were connected one and another.
The Regional Support Office would like to strengthen and enrich the Silk Road brand by utilizing the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). The project aims to create high volume of tourism demand in the Asia and the Pacific where tourism is growing rapidly. With the verification and endorsement of UNWTO and with effective shared findings of MSR with all the stakeholders, the project will construct a platform with all the members that related to Silk Road and result in promoting enlarged international tourism exchange among members. On this occasion, the Regional Support Office also invited Viet Nam to join the MSR initiative.
Speaking at the working session, Deputy Director Nguyen Manh Cuong warmly welcomed the Regional Support Office delegation to visit Viet Nam. He highly appreciated the project's idea on adding new tourism route and diversifying sea tourism products. He also assigned VNAT's departments to cooperate with the experts to study “Maritime Silk Road†project further.
Hong Thanh