Maps of Vietnam are on show along with tourism products at Vietnam’s booths at the 2018 International Tourism Exchange Berlin (ITB) in Germany from March 7-11.

Through the map exhibition, the country wants to provide visitors with more information about Vietnam’s tourism and highlight its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes.

Vietnam’s maps on show at Berlin international tourism fair

More than 40 leading travel companies from Vietnam are participating in this year’s ITB, one of the biggest tourism festivals in the world, aiming to promote their tourism products and services.

The Vietnamese booths are set up on an area of 500 square meters, drawing a large crowd of foreign visitors thanks to the provision of a perse number of products and services.

Deputy Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Ha Van Sieu said there are good opportunities for Vietnam to develop its tourism sector in the future, as many travel agencies consider Vietnam a ‘rising star’ and a safe and friendly new destination.

However, the biggest challenge for the tourism industry at present is how to improve its competitiveness in the region and beyond since most of Vietnamese tourism businesses are small- and medium-sized ones.

Therefore, it is necessary to invest in human resource development and seek the most efficient way to promote tourism, he suggested.

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, more than 2.86 million foreigners visited Vietnam in January and February 2018, up 29.7 percent from the same period last year.

Vietnam aims to serve between 15 and 17 million foreign and 78 million domestic travelers this year, with total revenue expected to hit VND 620 trillion (USD 27.28 billion), up 21.35 percent on year.

With a growth of 30 percent in tourism in 2017, Vietnam for the first time came on the list of countries with fastest tourism growth speed in the world, ranking at the 6th place./.

( VNF/VNA )