The conference had the attendance of Mr. Ho Anh Tuan - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST); Mrs. Preeti Saran - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indian in Viet Nam; Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan – General Director of Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT); representatives of Ministry of Tourism of India; and aviation and tourism businesses of the two countries.

General Director Nguyen Van Tuan said potential of bilaterial tourism cooperation has not been fully tapped yet. India is the most populous country of Southern Asia and an important source market of ASEAN countries. Thanks to strong economic growth in recent years, India’s traveling demand is rising highly. Every year, there are about 15 million Indian arrivals traveling abroad including 2.5 million arrivals to ASEAN countries, but the number of Indian tourists to Viet Nam is negligible, mainly business travelers, traders and investors. Limitted communication, tourist products and transportation could be identified as main causes of the problem.

Speaking at the conference, Ambassador Preeti Saran emphasized the warm traditional relationship between Viet Nam and India which has been cultivated over time. The importance of tourism cooperation has been confirmed by leaders of the two countries. This is favorable time to promote tourism cooperation, especially since Jet Airways opened direct flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to Ho Chi Minh City (Nov 5, 2014) while VNAT and Vietjet Air are planning to launch direct flights from Viet Nam to India. She also said that Viet Nam is one of the safest countries in the world, with hospitable people, excellent cuisine… which would be attractive to Indian tourists.

According to UNWTO, the number of Indian tourist traveling abroad is expected to grow from 15 million arrivals to 50 million arrivals by 2020. Annually, Indian tourists expenditure in Asia - Pacific region was about US $ 13.3 billion and is expected to increase to US $ 91 billion by 2030. In the coming time, Indian outbound travel market would be listed in the fastest growing markets in the world.

To enhance tourism cooperation, the VNAT has developed tentative plans to promote Viet Nam tourism to Indian market for the period 2015-2020. Accordingly, the VNAT will organize roadshows in major cities of India; welcome Indian famtrip delegations to Viet Nam; promote cuisine festivals…

At the conference, Deputy Minister Ho Anh Tuan sai the MoCST has recently proposed Vietnamese Government  for visa exemption for tourists from several countries, including India. He said the two sides should open more direct flights, ehance business exchange and sign tourism cooperation agreement as soon as possible.

General Director Nguyen Van Tuan said in the coming time, Viet Nam tourism sector will make proposals and implement solations to such issues as visa exemption; aviation linking; tourism information exchange; tourist product development aiming to bring Viet Nam – India tourism cooperation to a new level in accordance with available potential between the two countries.

Pham Thanh