Hanoi (VNA) – 🐭Travel companies have suggested opening more touriꦿsmrepresentative offices abroad, with priority to China, Thailand, India,Europe and the US, in an attempt to boost the attraction of foreign tourists now that the bottleneck in the field of visa has been removed.

Atpresent, Vietnam has only three such offices in Japan, the Republicof Korea (RoK), and the UK. Headof the VietnamTourism Association (VITA)’s Communications Department and CEOof Flamingo Redtours Nguyen Cong Hoan said Vietnam spends around 2million USD on tourism promotion each year, or about 2.9% of Thailand’s, 2.5% of Singapore’s, and 1.9% of Malaysia’s. Therefore, it isimpossible to arrange large-scale stalls or design effective business-to-businessand business-to-consumer meetings. Hesuggested that funding for the offices should be drawn from diplomaticagencies, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Tourism Development AssistanceFund, and the private sector. Highlightingthe need to open such offices abroad, CEO of AZA TravelNguyen Tien Dat said although Vietnam is not a big market, many countries such asthe RoK, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore have opened their tourismrepresentative offices here which are operating effectively. VITAChairman Vu The Binh proposed that the State should well manage destinationsand popularise Vietnam’s tourism trademark while businesses should develop tourproducts. In thefirst half of this year, indexes regarding international and domestic tourist arrivals ortotal revenue met over 60% of the yearly plan, partly thanks to the impact ofthe Law on amendments and supplements to several articles of the Law on Entry,Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam. Hoanexpected that between now and the year’s end, Vietnam’s tourism industry will growstrongly and shape tourism products for foreign visitors in Vietnam in 2024,2025 and subsequent years. Areport by Google Destination Insights ranked Vietnam at the seventh place among the most searcheddestinations from March-June, and the only country in Southeast Asia inthe top 20. TheVietnamese Government also issued a new visa policy for international visitorsarriving in the country, tripling visa waivers from 15 to 45 days for selectedcountries. The changes will come into force on August 15./.