HÀ NỘI — Travel from Việt Nam to Indonesia will get a whole lot easier.

Direct flights between HCM City and Bali will begin in June, with tickets going on sale this month.

The details of the new connection were revealed during a business to business (B2B) and tourism promotion event in Hà Nội yesterday.

It is part of a push by Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism to encourage more visitors from Việt Nam.

Speaking to Việt Nam News, Ambassador Ibnu Hadi said the country hopes 100,000 people will visit this year.

The B2B event was attended by representatives from Indonesian travel agents from Bali, Yogyakarta, Batam and West Java with nearly 40 travel agencies and tour operators in Hà Nội as well as Vietjet Air.

“In promoting the wonders of Indonesia as well as increasing awareness of Indonesia in Việt Nam, we have actively participated in Việt Nam International Travel Mart (VITM), organised familiarisation trip and implement promotion programmes,” said Hadi.

Hà Văn Siêu, vice chairman of the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism added: "Vietnamese and Indonesia partners have worked for a long time to reach the agreement to open a direct flight from HCM City to Bali."

"This achievement would certainly boost the tourism of the two countries," he said.

"We will expand the co-operation by planning a direct flight from Hà Nội to Bali." 

The selected priority destinations that are being pushed are Toba Lake (North Sumatra), Tanjung Kelayang (Bangka Belitung), Tanjung Lesung (Banten), Thousand Islands (Jakarta), Borobudur (Central Java), Bromo, Tengger, Semeru (East Java), Mandalika (West Nusa Tenggara), Labuan Bajo (East Nusa Tenggara), Wakatobi (Southeast Sulawesi) and Morotai Island (North Maluku).

Indonesia and Việt Nam have enjoyed strong bilateral tourism cooperation since the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Co-operation in Tourism in 1994, in which both countries have agreed to boost tourists arrival.

In recent years, the numbers of Indonesian tourists visited Việt Nam as well as Vietnamese tourists visited Indonesia keep increasing. Last year, there were nearly 88,000 Indonesian tourists to Việt Nam while more than 75,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Indonesia. — VNS