French tourists visiting the Opera House in downtown HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Đạt

HÀ NỘI — As the year-end peak season for international tourism is approaching, after a long time being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Việt Nam has determined it is a time for tourism sector to rebound and thrive.

The law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Việt Nam took effect on August 15, including issuing e-visas for visitors from all countries and extending e-visa validity from 30 days to 90 days, creating more favourable conditions for foreign visitors coming to the country.

To create momentum for tourism development, the Government issued Resolution No 82/NQ-CP dated May 18, 2023, on tasks and solutions to accelerate the recovery and boost the effective and sustainable development of the tourism industry.

Việt Nam's competitiveness in tourism has been improving, ranking 63rd out of the 140 countries and territories, up 17 places compared to 2011. In 2021, it ranked 52nd out of the 117 economies, up eight places from 2019.

The Government has requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with units and agencies in localities to strengthen tourism promotion activities and popularise Việt Nam's new visa policies in international tourism markets, including China, the Republic of Korea, India, and the UK.

The ministry has been asked to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bolster cultural diplomacy activities to introduce images of Việt Nam and its people to more foreign friends.

To position Việt Nam as a leading attractive tourism destination in the Southeast Asian region while affirming its brand and competitiveness, several tasks and solutions have been introduced such as innovating and diversifying forms of tourism marketing, promoting the application of digital technology, and deploying diverse and flexible forms of marketing communication in accordance with the objectives and requirements of each market and each period.

The strategy has affirmed the necessity of establishing Việt Nam tourism promotion or representatives offices abroad with the support of embassies, trade offices in the host countries.

According to Hà Văn Siêu, Deputy Director General of the Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), strategies are orientations for tourism development in the coming time, particularly in building and deploying tourism marketing plans in key markets, including the Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Western and Northern Europe, Latin America, Russia and Australia, among others, according to the types of tourism products with strengths and potential like high-end, quality tourism products, golf tourism, healthcare tourism products, ecotourism, and MICE.

Nguyễn Hồng Minh, Deputy Director of the Hà Nội's tourism department, said for a long time, localities have been implementing separated tourism promotion programmes on international media channels, resulting in inconsistency and low efficiency.

Minh proposed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop a general strategy to promote Việt Nam's tourism in the international market with a focus on establishing cooperative plans with big international media partners and brands like CNN, CNBC, BBC, Michellin, WTA, and Netflix.

In order to improve the quality of tourism promotion, many businesses and localities are striving to better promote the role of the Tourism Development Support Fund.

Leader of the VNAT Nguyễn Trùng Khánh assessed that the establishment and operation of the fund has initially met the needs of promoting national tourism as well as supporting tourism product development.

However, tourism promotion is a long-term process, requiring cooperation between State management agencies, localities, and tourism businesses. Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of tourism promotion in the new period, more joint efforts of localities and businesses are needed in order to attract more foreign tourists to the country. — VNS