HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - Travel linkages between regions in the country arevital to realise the tourism potential of localities and contribute toefforts to rejuvenate the tourism industry, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Damhas said.

Tourism cooperation and linkages between regions will help the recovery oftravel and tourism firms that have been hit hard bythe coronavirus crisis, the Deputy PM said at a conferenceon tourism linkages in the Southeast region held in Tay Ninh province onJune 28.

The initiative to develop tourism linkages will play an important role as adriving force for Vietnam’s tourism development in the coming time, he said.

The country is now focusing on promoting the domestic travel market torejuvenate the tourism industry in the 'new normal' conditions.

The successful kickstarting of the domestic travel market will be goodpreparation for promoting the international travel market when the countryreopens, he said.

At the conference, leaders of the Southeast region, including HCM City and DongNai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh provinces, signed anagreement on tourism linkages to develop inter-provincial travel products,diversity travel products and services, and increase tourist spending.

The agreement outlines collaboration in five areas, including State managementin tourism, development of tourism products, tourism promotion activities,human resource development, and investment in tourism development.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said theSoutheast region, which is considered the country’s most dynamic economicregion, has huge resources and potential for tourism.

However, localities in the region have independently developed their travelproducts, making it impossible to fully tap the region’s potential andcreate attractive travel products combining popular destinations in theregion, he noted.

At a conference on developmentof inter-provincial travel products in the Southeast region held on the sameday, nine travel firms in HCM City inked cooperation agreements with 20 tourismservice providers in the five southeast provinces to develop inter-provincialtravel products at reduced costs.

Travel firms said that traffic infrastructure between localities are convenientfor connectivity in the region, while facilities in the regionhave a wide range of upscale hotels and resorts that meet the demand oftourists.

The region offers a wide range of tourism activities such as eco-tourism aswell as religious, historic, cultural, leisure and culinarytourism.

Vo Anh Tai, deputy general director of Saigontourist Group, said the companywould annually develop at least three travel products in the region.

The company hopes to increase the number of tourists traveling to theregion by 10-20 percent each year.

Three new inter-provincial travel products were launched at the conference,including two-day tours from HCM City to Tay Ninh and Binh Duong, HCM City to BinhDuong and Binh Phuoc, and HCM City to Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, withdiscounted prices ranging from 1.39-1.49 million VND (60- 64 USD) per person.

In the first half of the year, the number of foreign tourists visiting theregion dropped by 65 percent, compared to the same period last year, to reach1.7 million.

Last year, the Southeast region welcomed 10.7 million internationaltourists, a year-on-year increase of 27.8 percent.

Tourism revenue of theregion was estimated at 7 billion USD last year./.