In recent years, the Red River Delta has received great support from the Government to boost its tourism industry. In response to the Government's policy, the northern provinces of Vinh Phuc, Ha Noi, Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh have created favorable conditions to develop tourism so as to make it a key economic industry as well as contribute to the regional socio-economic development.

Lately, a variety of tourism products and services have been exploited: island, sea-based tourism; cultural, artistic tourism; culinary tourism; craft village tourism; eco-tourism; adventure tourism and so on.

However, the Red River Delta's tourism has not matched its potentials. Tourism products of poor quality are among other reasons responsible for this shortcoming. These products are often duplicated time and time again, causing boredom to tourists.

Additionally, the travel agencies in the regions are small-scaled and lack of professional knowledge so they can not actively offer high-end products and attract tourists to the localities.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, PM Nguyen Tan Dung stressed that this is time for the region to work out measures to promote its potentials in order to make tourism a spearhead sector.

Viet Nam is now actively implementing the Strategy and Master Planning Scheme on tourism development through 2020, vision to 2030 in a bid to build a professional, modern, and efficient tourism sector. Tourism development must be combined with protection and promotion of national cultural values, preservation of scenery, environmental protection, guarantee of national defense, security and social order, PM Dung said.

The country targets to welcome over 10 million turns of foreign arrivals and 50 million turns of domestic tourists, earning a revenue of around US$18 billion by 2020. It is expected that the sector would create some three million jobs and account for 7% GDP.