Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Indian Tourism Ministry is discussing withVietnamese counterparts to issue favourable policies for Vietnamese travelagencies, who bring more guests to India, according to a representative.

Gyan Bhushan, economic adviser at the ministry, said India received around10.56 million foreign tourists in 2018, an increase of 5.2 percent over 2017.

“A total of 31,427 tourists from Vietnam visited India last year, which markeda growth of 32.21 percent against the previous year,” he said at the IncredibleIndia Roadshow event held in Hanoi on August 26.

“We aim to encourage a greater flow of tourists from Vietnam through amulti-pronged approach, including proactive marketing strategies in partnershipwith the tourism stakeholders.”

The event gathered 17 tour operators, destination management companies andtourism departments from two State governments of India, who met dozens ofcounterparts in Vietnam to introduce their tourism products and services.

Bhushan said Indian tourism authorities have set up free hotlines 24/7 fortourists in 12 languages to assist tourists in need.

“The line will be soon available in Vietnamese,” he said.

Bhushan said India aims to double the number of foreign tourists in the nextfive years.

He said Indian companies will promote tours attracting Vietnamese people likespiritual tours to Buddhism sites in the Himalaya range and health tours topractise yoga and meditation.

“We will exploit fresh routes that are not yet popular,” he said. “Besides,food demands of Vietnamese tourists will be a focus. We will send chefs to gettrained in Vietnam or invite Vietnamese chefs to India to train local chefs.”

Bhushan said direct flights between Hanoi and Calcutta, and between Ho Chi MinhCity, Hanoi and New Delhi will be opened later this year.

“We will organise more FAM tours for tour operators in Vietnam to India,” hesaid.

The tourism ministry has launched a new Incredible India website and a mobileapp which showcases India as a holistic destination, listing major experienceslike spirituality, heritage, adventure, culture, yoga and wellness.

India introduced e-visa facility to nationals of 169 countries including Vietnam,valid for entry through 28 designated airports and five designated seaports.

“I’m impressed with development and economic and tourism growth rate of Indiain the past few years,” said Ngo Hoai Trung, vice chairman of the VietnamNational Administration of Tourism.

“In the past three years, the growth in tourist exchange between the twocountries remains high, 30 percent per year on average. Last year, more than131,000 Indian visitors came to Vietnam.”

Pranay Verma, Indian ambassador to Vietnam, highly appreciated Vietnam’stourism potential to Indian tourists, in his speech at the event.

“India and Vietnam have a lot to learn from each other throughexperience-sharing in the field,” he stressed.

“There have been lots of efforts from both sides in recent years to enhancetourism co-operation,” he said. “Many roadshows have been organised in Vietnamand India for publishing tourist potentials of both countries. There has alsobeen a proposal for encouraging Bollywood film makers to shoot films in Vietnamfor attracting Indian tourists to Vietnam.”

However, the ambassador was not satisfied with the number of tourists exchangedbetween the two countries.

“I think such a roadshow is a good opportunity for me to get closer toVietnamese counterparts,” Peter Damian, managing director of ImaginesindiaTours, told Viet Nam News.

Damian said before joining the event, he did not know anything about theVietnamese market.

“I believe in my first impression,” he said. “Vietnamese people are sofriendly. I have talked to some potential partners in Vietnam here and hope toset up long relationships with them.”

India will organise the second edition of India's most definite inbound B2Bevent, the India Tourism Mart 2019 (ITM-2019) on September 23-25, 2019 in NewDelhi. - VNS/VNA