The opening ceremony of the Vietnam International Travel Mart 2025. Photo Trần Huấn/Culture Newspaper

Minh Phương & Khánh An

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam International Travel Mart (VITM) 2025 has kicked off with the theme 'Developing Green Destinations – Elevating Việt Nam’s Tourism' in Hà Nội.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Trịnh Thị Thủy said: "The number of international visitors to Việt Nam in the first quarter of 2025 has surpassed six million, an increase of 29.6 per cent compared to the same period last year, the highest figure ever recorded. Meanwhile, the number of Vietnamese travelling abroad also hit a record high of 2.7 million. These impressive results have ushered in a new phase of development for Vietnamese tourism industry.

"At the VITM Fair, we are witnessing a new initiative by Vietnamese tourism businesses in implementing the Party and State’s strategic direction: green transformation, a key global tourism trend. This shift aims to position tourism as a leading sector in Việt Nam’s green and circular economy."

The 2025 fair promotes green tourism to enhance Vietnam's image and encourage sustainable development across destinations and businesses. The four-day fair features a wide range of activities by tourism associations, local departments, and businesses, including B2B/B2C networking opportunities, tour promotions and cultural showcases. Both domestic and international participants will highlight tourism products, destinations, travel deals and emerging trends.

The fair has attracted tourism units from 56 provinces and cities across Việt Nam, from 16 countries and territories worldwide. The fair features approximately 450 booths, representing over 600 organisations and businesses, with international booths accounting for 15 per cent.

Malaysia booth and activities in the Vietnam International Travel Mart 2025. Photo Trần Huấn/Culture Newspaper

The Malaysia Ambassador to Việt Nam Dato' Tan Yang Thai, said to Việt Nam News: "Next year in 2026, it is the Visit Malaysia year, we are going to expect a surge of tourists coming and I hope some of those guests will be coming from Việt Nam. Last year, we had almost 400,000 Vietnamese visit Malaysia, we hope to at least increase this number this year and next year.

"This year, we are highlighting our state, Sarawak. It's in Borneo Island and it's a new destination, one of beautiful rainforests, beautiful nature and beautiful big caves. This is a good destination, a new destination for visiting Malaysia. We want to promote Sarawak to Việt Nam, and hopefully, Vietnamese tourists will be able to come."

The India Ambassador to Việt Nam Sandeep Arya, told Việt Nam News: "In 2024, tourism between India and Vietnam grew by about 27 per cent in both directions, Indians coming to Việt Nam, and Vietnamese travelling to India. We are hoping that thanks to this event, our participation, promoting and connecting travel agencies will lead to a growth in the tourism flow between the two countries in both directions.

"To go beyond a 27-28 per cent increase in tourism between India to Việt Nam and Việt Nam to India. I would like to increase it by a similar percentage, if not more. I think overall trends are good. We are having more flights from both directions, between India to Việt Nam and Việt Nam to India. We are having more travel operators travelling to each other, greater inquiries and greater interest among people. So I think all the trends are pointing to a good growth in this year, also in tourism."

Anthony Tuấn Phan, CEO of AIAIVN at the fair guides the visitors on how to use a robot. Photo Trần Huấn/Culture Newspaper

AI in tourism

At the fair, there is also a dedicated booth for digital transformation applications in tourism, featuring the participation of over 20 businesses.

The CEO of AIAIVN, Anthony Tuấn Phan, told Việt Nam News about the application of technology in tourism: "Our company has introduced multiple solutions for digital transformation, including the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI in the tourism industry. Just this past week, we implemented four AI-based solutions at the Đà Nẵng Museum, making it the first museum in Việt Nam to adopt AI technology."

The Đà Nẵng Museum solutions include a multilingual chatbot for global promotion, AI tour guide robots, an interactive automatic narration app supporting multiple languages with two-way communication, and a real-time translation tool to assist human tour guides in multilingual tours.

Đà Nẵng Museum has adopted an interactive automatic narration app supporting multiple languages with two-way communication. Photo courtesy of AIAIVN

CEO Phan said that the potential for AI development in the tourism industry is tremendous, which makes double-digit growth a feasible goal. He pointed out that AI can generate multilingual content and create diverse digital channels to promote Vietnamese tourism globally, enabling potential visitors to explore destinations from afar before travelling. It also helps tailor travel itineraries based on tourists’ preferences and enhances on-site experiences by overcoming language barriers through real-time translation and personalised content.

AI systems can analyse tourists' inquiries and feedback in real time, providing insights into their needs and concerns, allowing Việt Nam’s tourism sector to improve services and identify cross-selling opportunities.

The travel mart takes place until April 13 at the ICE International Exhibition Centre, 91 Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Hà Nội. — VNS