Bình Sơn Beach in Ninh Thuận is seen empty due to COVID-19 pandemic while the destination used to be crowded with tourists in previous years. — Photo danviet.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnam International Travel Mart will be held at the Hanoi International Exhibition Centre on November 18-21 after many delays caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

The event is typically held annually in April by the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

This year’s mart is expected to feature about 510 booths of about 750 tourism units and attract some 90,000 visitors. The numbers of tours and flight tickets to be sold at the mart are estimated to reach 35,000 and 22,000 respectively, higher than the figures of previous years.

According to Vũ Thế Bình, vice chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association, the COVID-19 pandemic in the country is basically controlled so the travel mart could be held this November.

With theme 'Tourism Towards Future', the organising committee encourages enterprises and organisations to promote initiatives in management, business and tourism activities associated with the application of 4.0 technologies.

Việt Nam’s tourism broke a growth record in December 2019, however, the sector immediately fell into crisis in early January 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is estimated Việt Nam’s tourism industry has lost tens of billions of dollars, which is the biggest crisis ever in the history of the sector. Therefore, Vietnam International Travel Mart 2020 is expected to boost national tourism, encouraging tourists nationwide to resume their travelling habits. — VNS