Deputy Director of the the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Ha Van Sieu speaks at the seminar. (Photo: VNA)

Bangkok
(VNA) – A seminar took place in Bangkok, Thailand on September 29 to promote
Vietnam’s tourism among local public.

The event was held
by the Embassy of Vietnam in Thailand in partnership with the Vietnam National
Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Tourism Council of Thailand to
introduce Vietnam as a friendly country with socio-political stability and
beautiful landscapes and seek ways to enhance destination linkages and improve
tours.

According to the
VNAT, Vietnam welcomed approximately 10 million foreign visitors, including
200,000 Thai nationals, in the first eight months of 2017, up 23 percent from
the same period last year. The country expects to receive 3 more million
tourists by the end of this year.

Speaking at the
event, VNAT Deputy Director Ha Van Sieu highly spoke of Thailand’s initiatives
to link tourist destinations of countries within the Ayeyawady-Chao
Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) and CLMVT, such as
East-West Corridor and Heritage Journey.

Thanks to the
initiatives, Vietnam and Thailand are able to take advantages of their
strengths to make visitors stay longer, Sieu said, adding that there should be
closer coordination between relevant authorities and travel agencies from the
two sides alongside more open policies of the two governments.

Head of the Tourism
Council of Thailand Pichai Raktasinha said Vietnam’s tourism industry has been
on the right track, reflected by an increasing number of international tourist
arrivals in recent years.

But the goal to
attract 13 million foreign travellers this year does not match the country’s
great potentials in tourism. So that, Vietnam needs to do better in tourism
promotional programmes in a bid to bring it closer to international friends, he
suggested.

Vietnamese
Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang urged the two nations to step up cooperation in
tourism to promote “Two Countries, One Destination” when they are enjoying
strong development in their relations, particularly in terms of economy, trade
and politics.-VNA