Côn Đảo Island is a must-visit destination in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province. The island charms visitors with its pristine natural beauty. VNA/VNS Photo Ngọc Hà

HÀ NỘI — Images of the southern province of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu’s tourism sector are being showcased in an advertisement broadcast on BBC Global News Asia Pacific channel.

This is the first time that provincial tourism has been screened on an international channel.

The 30-second ad, set to be aired 150 times over two months until June 2, features images of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu’s blue sea, white sand, golden sunshine, diversified marine ecosystems and impressive architectural constructions.

According to Trần Thị Thu Hiền, the deputy director of the Department of Tourism of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province, the promotion activity aims to introduce the beauty of the area to international tourists, preventing it from being forgotten after a long period of locking down due to COVID-19 pandemic.

"More importantly, we want to take the proactive step and get ready to welcome international tourists as soon as the country reopens its doors and gradually revives the tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic has been under control,” Hiền told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) Newspaper.

Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu is among many localities in Việt Nam that had its tourism sector hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It is estimated the number of tourists in the province reached nearly 11 million last year, down more than 30 per cent compared to the previous year, among which the number of international visitors decreased by more than 64 per cent. Revenue from tourism of the province went down by 23.15 per cent.

BBC Global News is a major media channel with more than 450 million households watching channels in 200 countries and territories. BBC Global News content is available in 3 million hotel rooms, on 178 cruise ships and 53 airlines.

The channel has been chosen as a promotional channel for tourism of many countries and territories such as Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, and India.

Over the years, Vietnamese tourism has taken advantage of digital platforms to promote the image of Vietnamese nature, culture and people to the world.

Late last year, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism broadcast the clip Why not Vietnam? on CNN for six weeks to introduce the country as a safe destination with many classy tourism products and pristine nature.

Before that, in June 2020, Đà Nẵng City signed an agreement to promote the city’s tourism with Global News Asia Pacific. The channel broadcast a 30-second clip introducing the city 98 times in prime time.

Hà Nội also spent $2 million to promote the city’s heritage, culture and history on CNN in 2017-2018. VNS