New Delhi (VNA) - A webinar on theprospects for Vietnam-India tourism cooperation in the post-pandemic era was heldon September 17, bringing together representatives from some 200 travelc🐷ompanies, hotels, and media ageꦯncies in the two countries.

Aiming to identify measures to recover and fosterthe two countries’ tourism sectors in the “new normal” following the pandemic, thewas co-held by the Embassy of Vietnam in India, the Policy Timesnewspaper, and the Millennial India International Chamber of Commerce -Industry and Agriculture (MIICCIA). It was the second programme in the 2020Vietnam-India Business Forum, which is hoped to connect enterprises in variousfields from the two countries. Vietnam-India tourism cooperation has thrived inrecent years, especially since the launch of direct air routes. Like so manythings, though, it has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Delegates at the webinar affirmed that Vietnam andIndia hold huge potential in tourism cooperation. Though now is still not a suitable time to resumetourism cooperation fully, the webinar offered the chance for the two sides todiscuss the obstacles and challenges facing the tourism sectors and preparestimulus programmes once the pandemic is brought under control. It also helped travel companies and hotels introduceproducts and bolster their cooperation, thereby enhancing relations between thetwo countries in general. Addressing the webinar, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Ha Van Sieu called on authorities, organisations, and businesses in both countries tobolster their engagement to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic. In addition to support from the Governments, heproposed introducing flexible booking policies for tourists and urged airlines,travel companies, and service providers to join hands and share information toovercome this time of hardship, as well as devise plans on setting up travelcorridors to promote safe travel after COVID-19. He added that in the post-pandemic era, tourismmanagement agencies, tourism associations, and tourism businesses in Vietnamand India need to foster cooperation to address the consequences ofrestrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 and to explore opportunitiesto re-open, attract investment, and arrange exchanges and air links. Thanks to tourism promotions, the number of Indian holidaymakerscoming to Vietnam increased 25 percent each year from 2016 to 2019, whileVietnamese visitors to India rose 17 percent. In 2019 alone, close to 30,000 Vietnamese travelled toIndia, while about 170,000 Indians visited Vietnam./.