Thailand eyes strong tourism links with regional countries Dao Loan Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul – PHOTO: DAO LOAN Thai tourism authorities are working on a major plan to enhance linkages with Vietnam and other regional countries to spur tourism development and attract more travelers to Thailand and the region as a whole. Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul talked with The Saigon Times Daily over the plan at the International Travel Expo which is going on in HCMC from September 10 to 12. Excerpts: The Saigon Times Daily: Twenty-four companies of Thailand are attending this year’s travel expo, the biggest figure ever, and the Thailand booth covering 135 square meters is also bigger than in previous years. What do you expect from the Vietnamese market? – Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul: We target not only Vietnam but also the entire ASEAN region. This year’s expo is themed … [Read more...] about Thailand eyes strong tourism links with regional countries
Tourism
Vietnam to hire consultancy firm for tourism marketing?
VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism VNAT is, for the first time, considering hiring a consultancy firm to promote Vietnam's tourism, according to VNAT's General Director Nguyen Van Tuan. In the interview given to Tien phong newspaper, Tuan said that after choosing the new logo and slogan for Vietnam's tourism for 2011-2015 "Vietnam - a different Orient" suggested by Cowan Vietnam, VNAT is consulting the choice with tourism experts, travel firms, relevant ministries and press agencies. If a consensus can be reached, VNAT will ask the Government for the permission to use the new logo and slogan for the tourism promotion activities in the time to come. … [Read more...] about Vietnam to hire consultancy firm for tourism marketing?
Shortage of tour guides critical upon strong tourism growth
Shortage of tour guides critical upon strong tourism growth Dao Loan HCMC - The increasing number of foreign visitors to Vietnam recently has led to a severe shortage of tour guides, especially those able to speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese or German. Tu Quy Thanh, director of Lien Bang Travel Trading Company Limited (Lien Bang Travelink), said that the lack of Chinese-speaking tour guides has been a big problem for years, especially in coastal cities such as Danang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. The lack of such tour guides has persisted although compensations are high for such people, he said. Monthly income of Chinese-speaking tour guides can be up to VND30 million (about US$1,320), he said. “This is a good income but travel firms still find it very difficult to have enough Chinese-speaking tour guides,” Thanh said. Nguyen Thi Khanh, vice chairman of the HCMC Tourism Association (HTA), said that the lack of tour guides has been a chronic problem for the tourism industry. … [Read more...] about Shortage of tour guides critical upon strong tourism growth
Ha Noi expands international cooperation to develop tourism
Ha Noi has signed several cooperation programmes with international partners to promote the capital city’s images abroad. The cooperation programme with the American Cable News Network (CNN) in 2017-2018 with a total cost of 2 million USD is an example, which aims to build Ha Noi’s tourism brand across the globe and invite foreign investors to develop tourism products in the city. Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Tran Duc Hai said the city has also stepped up collaboration with international organisations to expand markets, focusing on key and new ones such as the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Southeast Asian and Northeast Asian countries, India, Australia and New Zealand. Ha Noi’s tourism sector is an active member of the Council for Promotion of Tourism in Asia (CPAT) and the Tourism Promotion Organisation for Asian-Pacific Cities (TPO), he added. In recent years, Ha Noi has worked with diplomatic representative agencies along … [Read more...] about Ha Noi expands international cooperation to develop tourism
Conference boosts Vietnam-Russia tourism cooperation and development
(Cinet)- On September 12, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in association with the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee held a Vietnam-Russia tourism cooperation and development conference. The event aimed to realise the cooperation plan on tourism development in the 2013-2015 period between Russia and Vietnam. Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan asked for closer cooperation between the tourism managing organisations, local authorities, diplomatic representatives, businesses as well as the people of the two countries. Both sides need to create favourable conditions for travel agencies to cooperate and design more attractive tourism programmes, he said, pledging better preferential treatment for the travel agencies to operate effectively. The conference also introduced the tourism market in Russia, promotion plans and policies as well as approach methods to lure more visitors from Russia. Participants also analysed and evaluated strong and weak … [Read more...] about Conference boosts Vietnam-Russia tourism cooperation and development