Tourists visit Tràng An ecotourism site that is located in the northern province of Ninh Bình. Việt Nam's tourism has witnessed an increase in the number of both international and domestic tourists in recent year. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Đức

HÀ NỘI  Việt Nam’s tourism sector has achieved major breakthroughs in 2019, heard the year-end conference of Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

According to a report by Deputy Director General of VNAT, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hương, all targets for the number of international and domestic tourists as well as revenue gained from tourism have been met.

The country was estimated to welcome 18 million international tourists, up more than 16 per cent from 2018. The number of domestic travellers also rose by 6 per cent to 85 million. The tourism sector earned more than VNĐ720 trillion (nearly US$16.7 billion), up 16 per cent on a yearly basis.

The average growth of tourist figures in the three years from 2016 was 22 per cent a year, putting Việt Nam among the 10 countries with highest tourism growth in the world.

Besides, Việt Nam received many prestigious global tourism awards, including Asia’s Leading Destination for the second year in a row, Asia’s Leading Cultural Destination, Asia's Leading Culinary Destination and Asia's Leading Cultural City Destination (Hội An) at the 26th World Travel Awards.

Furthermore, Việt Nam’s position has progressed in Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2019 released by the World Economic Forum, ranking 63rd among 140 countries and territories worldwide.

The VNAT also said many international events have been held in Việt Nam in the past year, promoting the tourism sector, like the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2019, the 2019 North Korea–US Hà Nội Summit and the 16th United Nations Day of Vesak.

In terms of marketing and tourism promotion, the sector has intensified the use of e-marketing to promote the country’s tourism on the website vietnam.travel and social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube, in addition to running the #VietnamNOW campaign to tell inspiring stories of Vietnamese tourism.

According to VNAT, followers on the Facebook and Instagram of vietnam.travel increased 600 per cent from same last year. The interaction rate on Instagram reached 5.61 per cent, three times higher than similar pages for Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.

The conference also discussed plans for 2020 together with proposals to improve the sector.

Speaking at the conference, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lê Quang Tùng had high praise for the achievements of Việt Nam’s tourism sector in 2019, though he suggested VNAT improve its state administration and public services work.

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Nguyễn Ngọc Thiện also congratulated the sector for its work in the past year with impressive increasing figures and major tourism awards; however, he proposed the results be improved with a more innovative mindset and drastic solutions.

Thiện requested that in 2020, Việt Nam’s tourism sector aim to welcome 20.5 million international tourists.

Next year, the country will host a number of major events that are expected to draw tourists, including the Formula 1 Vietnam Grand Prix. VNS