At the meeting, Deputy Director General of VNAT Hoang Thi Diep appreciated growth in tourist exchange between Viet Nam and New Zealand which has been shown in the recent years. In 2012, Viet Nam welcomed 26,621 New Zealand tourist arrivals, up 0.45% in comparison with 2011; Vietnamese visitors to New Zealand reached 3,216 arrivals, increasing by 10.3% over 2011. The number of New Zealand visitors to Viet Nam in 2013 and in 7 months of 2014 was 30,957 arrivals (up 16.2%) and 20,625 arrivals, respectively.

To enhance the bilateral cooperation, the Deputy Director General proposed that in the coming time the two sides should sign a cooperation agreement on tourism. Viet Nam is pleased to welcome famtrips including representatives of travel businesses, press agencies… from New Zealand to Viet Nam to seek investment opportunities and promote Viet Nam image. She invited New Zealand to participate in annual international tourism fairs in Viet Nam and hoped that New Zealand will support Viet Nam to attend tourism events in New Zealand, suggested New Zealand to share experiences in development of ecotourism, adventure tourism and tourism marketing.

According to Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Robbie Taylor, Viet Nam has increasingly been becoming an attractive destination for New Zealand people. Main websites of New Zealand regularly update news about Viet Nam tourism and gastronomy. He said 30,957 New Zealand tourist arrivals to Viet Nam in 2013 is a relatively large number compared with the New Zealand population of more than 4.2 million. The Deputy Head of Mission also proposed visa exemption for New Zealand citizens to Viet Nam.

Besides, he suggested the two sides to strengthen cooperation in training tourism and hotel management – a strength of New Zealand.

Hong Nhung