Nguyễn Huy Đức, head of the Vietnam Airlines branch in the RoK at the tourism promotion event. VNA/VNS Photo

SEOUL – National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and Sun Group on April 17 held a tourism promotion event themed “The Magnificent Vietnam” in Seoul, aiming to promote Việt Nam’s tourism potential, flights, and trade opportunities for Việt Nam and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The event, the third of its kind, saw the participation of the Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Vũ Hồ, representatives from Vietnam Airlines and its branches in the RoK, as well as partners of Vietnam Airlines and Sun Group.

Nguyễn Huy Đức, head of the Vietnam Airlines branch in the RoK, said the number of Korean visitors to Việt Nam is growing strongly. In the first quarter of 2024, the number rose about 52% to about 1.2 million from the same period last year. In particular, the national flag carrier has seen a strong increase in the number of its business class passengers, showing a trend that more Koreans wish to experience good service quality in tourism and aviation, and are willing to pay a high cost to enjoy a comfortable trip.

Đức said that seeing the trend, Vietnam Airlines introduces high-quality products to Korean customers and partners to jointly develop the market and increase in the number of tourists from the RoK to Việt Nam.

At the event, Vietnam Airlines and Sun Group introduced to partners special services focusing on Korean customers. They are also seeking partners to develop cooperation to promote ticket sales, create more unique and creative tourism and resort products to promote competitive advantages and attract more Korean tourists.

Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2024, nearly 120,000 Vietnamese tourists travelled to the RoK, a year-on-year increase of 38.9% and a 8.5% rise from the same period in 2019 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the RoK attracted more than 420,000 Vietnamese tourists, making Việt Nam the largest tourist source of the RoK in Southeast Asia and the 5th largest source of tourists to the RoK worldwide. In contrast, the RoK remained the largest source market of Việt Nam tourism as it welcomed about 3.6 million Korean visitors last year.

Vietnam Airlines resumed all its flights to the RoK in late 2022. It currently operates 112 flights between the two countries weekly. VNA/VNS