Hanoi (VNA)⭕ – Vietnam won 54 prizes at the 2023 World Travel Awards - Asia and Oceania region last year, positioning the country's brand on top of the global tourism map and turning travel to the Southeast Asian nation into a bright spot in terms of socioeconomic recovery.

According to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), Vietnam served 12.6 million foreign visitors and 108 million domestic tourists, up 57% and 6%, respectively. Total earnings from tourism activities hit 678 trillion VND (27.5 billion USD), 4.3% higher than the plan. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung highlighted tireless efforts made by the Government, ministries, localities, and businesses in reviving the industry, saying that several policies have been issued to help remove barriers and promote tourism recovery and development. Tourism development is integrated into the overall development of culture diplomacy, in efforts to preserve and promote cultural heritage values, he said. However, the sector still faces numerous difficulties and challenges. The number of international tourists to Vietnam slowly recovered compared to other countries in the region. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has proposed numerous tasks and breakthrough solutions to speed up the recovery. These include short-term visa exemption for tourists from certain promising and large-scale markets such as China and India to stimulate tourism demand, and the expansion of unilateral visa exemptions for countries with high tourist spending such as Australia, Canada, the US, and EU member nations. It emphasised the need to enhance collaboration with countries, territories, and international airlines to open more air routes and increase the frequency of existing direct flights between Vietnam's key tourism areas and major cities of target tourist markets. The ministry also proposed amending the Law on Overseas Representative Missions to allow the establishment of tourism promotion offices in key markets around the world. Attention must be paid to strengthening tourism promotion in key international markets, both traditional and emerging. These fresh markets include Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, North America, Australia, India, and the Middle East, Hung said. In addition, it is also necessary to develop branded tourism products and services with added value and high competitiveness, and focus on promoting digital transformation and developing human resources serving tourism development, he added. Vietnam’s tourism sector anticipates a breakthrough in 2024, aiming to fully recover to levels not seen since 2019. It is set to welcome 17-18 million foreign arrivals, serve 110 million domestic tourists, and earn 840 trillion VND in revenue./.