Vietnam to drum up tourism in Australia

VietNamNet Bridge – Tourism authorities and travel agencies in HCMC and other provinces will head for the Australian city of Melbourne to promote the ongoing national tourism program as well as their own tourism products and services.La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told the Daily that the city would lead the tourism promotion mission to Australia for a Vietnam Roadshow in Melbourne on February 16.The Vietnam Roadshow will take place a day ahead of the opening of the 17th Asia Pacific Incentive & Meetings Expo, also known as AIME 2009 which attracts a lot of buyers worldwide to business events to be held there, he said.

He noted HCMC and other provinces would join forces to introduce the national tourism promotion program known as “Impressive Vietnam” to the buyers in Australia and elsewhere in the world.

During the program scheduled to last until September this year, travel companies work with airlines and hotels to offer discounts of 30-50% for package tours within the country.

Khanh said 19 hotels of three to five-star ratings and 14 travel agencies in HCMC were joining the program launched early this year by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Khanh said the city would also take the opportunity to sell the “100 Interesting Sites in HCMC” program as well as products and services for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) guests.

Other participating localities including Hanoi, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Thuan and Can Tho will promote their products and places of interest at the major international tourism event, he said.

All the participating localities, he said, will sell attractions and discount products and services on offer in Vietnam in the hopes that the country will attract 4.5 international visitors or more this year.

Figures of the General Statistics Office showed 370,000 international tourists traveled to Vietnam last month, up 3.3% over December 2008.

This year, many countries are worried about a possible decline in visitor arrivals because of the impact of the global economic slowdown.

The HCMC government reported that the number of international visitors to the city in January stood at 330,000, or just the same as the year-earlier period. Khanh said the global economic situation would likely impact on leisure rather than business travel as people still have to come to do business.

Khanh said he was optimistic about the MICE situation this year based on what had happened to the market segment. Saigontourist Travel Service Co. has served thousands of MICE guests so far this year.

Therefore, he said, the mission will focus on promoting MICE products at the AIME 2009 in Australia, which is considered one of the major generating markets for Vietnam. Last year, more than 234,000 Australians visited Vietnam, a year-on-year rise of over 104%.

Similar missions are planned this year to promote the “Impressive Vietnam” program in other major markets including Japan, ASEAN, France and Western Europe, Khanh said.