Hanoi (VNA)💟 – The European Union (EU) will send expert groups to provide technical assistance for Vietnam to help the country promote tourism via the Tourism Development Fund and increase the competitiveness of local destinations.

A press conference was held recently in Hanoi to give information about the EU’s support for the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board to recommend the management and operation model of the Tourism Development Fund and increase competitiveness of destinations.

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Tom Corrie, a representative of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, said they will support the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board to build a modality for the Tourism Development Fund to help Vietnam improve marketing activities and popularise its image as a wonderful destination. They will also assist in the building of a competitiveness index for tourist destinations so as to promote the healthy competition among and encourage all places of interests to improve their services and environment, he noted. Accordingly, the EU will send expert groups to provide technical assistance for Vietnam to help the country promote tourism through the Tourism Development Fund and increase the competitiveness of local destinations. The project has been carried out since February and will last for 12 months. It was launched amidst the Vietnamese tourism sector under great pressure from the Government and the community to enhance its competitiveness and sustainability. Therefore, by focusing on destinations’ competitiveness, the project is expected to help the country to achieve higher standing in the changing global tourism market. Particularly, by working with main tourism partners, the project will coordinate with the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board to build a competiveness index for destinations which is said to be necessary for the sustainable development of the sector. This index will also be a tool for monitoring tourism development in localities and dealing with outstanding problems of each tourism product. Experts of the project hope that the index will be applied across the country, thereby helping the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to control and increase tourism competitiveness of localities nationwide. Under this project, dialogues between the public and private sectors, consultations, training programmes will be held. The competitiveness index will be piloted in the top five tourist attractions of Vietnam, namely Ha Long, Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. Main outcomes of the project will be released at a high-level event at the end of this year before they are submitted to the Prime Minister via the Government leader’s Advisory Council on Administrative Procedures Reforms. The Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, set up in 2012, is an outcome of the EU’s support for the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. It has shown an active performance in promoting tourism via public – private partnership. It operates in a dialogue model with a focus on discussing challenges, opportunities and sustainability of the tourism industry, giving advice to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and contributing to policy making, human resources development and quality ensuring in the sector. In 2017, the Prime Minister signed a decision adding representatives of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board to the Advisory Council on Administrative Procedures Reforms in order to step up dialogue and cooperation between the Government and travel companies, thus helping to turn tourism into a true spearhead industry of the nation. The country welcomed about 15.6 million foreign visitors and 80 million domestic travellers in 2018, respectively rising over 2.7 million and 6.8 million year on year. Total revenue hit 620 trillion VND, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. Also in 2018, the country won a series of international awards, recognising it as a safe and friendly destination. Vietnam was named “Asia’s Leading Destination” for the first time at the 2018 World Travel Awards in Hong Kong this September. Two months later, it was honoured with as “Asia’s best golf destination in 2018” at the Golf World Travel Awards. For 2019, it expects to welcome some 103 million visitors, including around 18 million foreigners and 85 million domestic holiday makers, up 15 percent and 6 percent from last year, respectively. The sector is hoped to generate more than 700 trillion VND in revenue./.