HCM CITY — The Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism is holding tourism promotion activities in Việt Nam from April 4 to 7 during the first time this landlocked country takes part in the HCM City Tourism Festival.

Mongolian artists perform at the pavilion of their country at the HCM City Tourism Festival 2024. VNA/VNS Photo

This also marks the start of activities to be held on the threshold of the 70th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations (November 17, 1954 - 2024).

At the festival, a programme named "Go Mongolia Roadshow 2024” is organised to introduce the Mongolian culture, tourism and cuisine; and explore tourism cooperation opportunities between the two countries.

Galbaa Davkharbayar, Second Secretary of the Mongolian Embassy in Việt Nam, said the HCM City Tourism Festival is a chance for his country to introduce its culture and people to the Vietnamese and help travel businesses of Mongolia seek partnerships with Vietnamese firms to increase visitors to each other’s markets, thus contributing to economic ties and friendship between the two countries.

The numbers of Vietnamese visitors to Mongolia and Mongolian visitors to Việt Nam have been on the rise over the past years, but that has yet to fully live up to the countries’ huge tourism potential, he noted.

He cited statistics as showing that more than 2,000 Vietnamese tourists came to Mongolia in 2023, when the number of Mongolian travellers to the Southeast Asian nation topped 15,000.

Zolkhuu Ulambayar, Director of Mongolian travel company TMD Tourist LLC, perceived that aside from each country’s tourism advantages, the bilateral visa exemption agreement, which came into force on March 7 this year, will also create favourable conditions and good opportunities for businesses to strengthen trade, investment and tourism ties, as well as people-to-people exchanges.

HCM City is a big tourism centre of Việt Nam and also has a large number of tourists travelling abroad. Given this, an Ulaanbaatar - HCM City air route expected to be opened by Mongolian Airlines this November will help encourage more Mongolians and Vietnamese to visit each other’s countries, he added. VNA/VNS