The Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM) Hanoi 2016, themed "Vietnam - the paradise of sea and island tourism", opened on April 13th at the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre.

The annual fair, co-organized by the Vietnam Tourism Association, Hanoi municipal People’s Committee and Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, aims to draw more international tourists to Vietnam, as well as increase the number of domestic visitors to sea and island areas.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Chung (right), Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien (middle) and Mr. Vu The Binh, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association pressing to launch the event.

The event is set to boost three sectors of tourism - Inbound, Domestic & Outbound. It is expected to see the participation of 3,000 enterprises and approximately 62,000 visitors.

In his speech at the mart, Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, affirmed that VITM 2016 offers opportunities for partners to study, promote and intensify coordination and links to develop more tourism products.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that after 30 years of renewal, Vietnam’s tourism has gained initial growth achievements in scale and professionalism.

In 2015, the country greeted 7.9 million foreign tourist arrivals and provided services to about 30 million domestic tourists, grossing a turnover of VND337 trillion, contributing 6% to national GDP. In the next five years, the local tourism industry will target developing tourism in depth, quality, professionalism and sustainability.

At the opening ceremony, the organizers presented awards for attractive destinations in 2015 with categories in beach, museum, craft villages, resort, and entertaining areas.

VITM Hanoi 2016 will offer numerous demand stimulus programs with about 20,000 low-cost air tickets and 15,000 tours with prices discounted by some 20-30%, increasing by 7,000 tours and 5,000 tickets from last year’ s event.

The fair will close on April 17th./.

( Compiled by VNF )