Hanoi (VNA) – Secretary of the Party Committee ofHanoi Hoang Trung Hai has asked the city’s tourism sector to invest further in thedevelopment of tourism products and infrastructure in order to promote thecity’s image and attract more tourists.

Hanoi’s tourism sector has directly contributed 4.15 percentand indirectly contributed 10.12 percent to the city’s GDP, he noted, holdingthat the figures show the high development potential of the sector, whichshould be optimised through further investment.

Initially, the sector needs better performance in statemanagement, while coordinating closely with localities across the city to seek tourismsites with potential for development, he said.

The Hanoi leader also suggested that the sector work with departmentsand agencies to strengthen promotion of city tourism, with a strongerapplication of information technology in introducing food, transport,accommodation, and shopping services.

In particular, the sector should pay greater attention tothe building of a code of conduct in tourism, he stated.

In the first two months of 2019, Hanoi welcomed nearly 4.9million visitors, up 10.7 percent compared to the same period last year,including 1.15 million foreigners, a rise of 16.5 percent.

Total earnings from the sector during the January-February periodreached 17.31 trillion VND (744 million USD), an increase of 34.7 percent year-on-year.

In 2019, Hanoi aims to lure more than 28.9 million tourists,up 10.1 percent over 2018, including over 7 million foreign visitors, up 17percent. Tourism revenue in the year is expected to rise 34 percent to 103.8trillion VND (4.46 billion USD).

According to Director of the Hanoi Department of TourismTran Duc Hai, the city’s tourism sector is striving to become a spearheadeconomic sector with stable growth and greater contributions to the transformationof the city’s economic structure.

The sector must make adequate investment in developing the qualityand number of tourism products, while attracting more investment, especiallyfrom the community, to the sector.

Among the tourism sites chosen for investment are Thang LongRoyal Citadel, the Old Quarter, Duong Lam ancient village, Bat Trang potteryvillage, and Van Phuc silk village.

Hanoi has nearly 3,500 accommodation facilities with morethan 60,800 rooms.

In 2018, the US-based Time magazine listed Hanoi as one ofthe top eight destinations for all visitors, while Mastercard named it in the top10 Southeast Asian cities that attract the highest number of business visitors,and Airbnb chose Hanoi as one of the two Vietnamese cities with the highestnumber of booked rooms. –VNA