QuangNinh (VNA) – A forum was held in Mong Cai city, the northeasternprovince of Quang Ninh, on December 1 to discuss measures for promotingcross-border tourism through the international border gate pair of Mong Cai (Vietnam)and Dongxing (China).

HoQuang Huy, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People’sCommittee of Mong Cai city, said the work is necessaryfor not only socio-economic development in border areas but also culturalexchanges, cooperation, and friendship between the two countries.

NguyenTrung Khanh, Director of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism under theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), said that sharing road, air andsea borders, Vietnam and China hold highly favourable conditions for tourismcooperation. Over the recent past, the tourism partnership between Quang Ninhand the neighbouring Chinese province of Guangxi has substantially contributedto the two countries’ tourism ties, helping improve people’s life andconsolidate a border of peace and friendship.

LiJian, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and Mayor of Dongxing city, noted this is the most attractive tourism product of his city. Thenumber of cross-border tourists has surged so far this year with morethan 120,000 Vietnamese visitors to Dongxing.

Hesuggested the two sides increase policy discussion, jointly build model touristsites, form maritime tours, optimise customs clearance infrastructure and enhance inter-sectoral cooperation at border gates, open high-qualitycross-border tours, and establish a “green” lane for self-drive tours.

Theyshould also step up exchanges in terms of culture, sports, education, andhealth care while continuing to strengthen the friendship between the Chineseand Vietnamese peoples, he added.

Forher part, Deputy Director of the Quang Ninh Tourism Department Nguyen Huyen Anhheld that the two sides should improve the effectiveness of existing cooperationmechanisms and consider new cooperation models matching each locality and eachcountry’s potential, advantages, conditions, and development priorities to createbreakthroughs in tourism cooperation.

Theyneed to bolster coordination in information sharing and market forecasting,especially about the two countries’ legal regulations and the two localities’policies on tourism. In addition, they should work to ensure sustainable touristexchanges, a healthy business climate for both sides’ businesses, and a safeand friendly environment and quality services for visitors, she said.

Anhalso recommended building a cross-border tourism cooperation programme betweenborder provinces of Vietnam and Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of China.

Atthe forum, representatives of travel firms and hotels also raised suggestionsand proposals to foster cross-border tourism, expand the markets, and stimulatetravel demand.

Priorto the COVID-19 pandemic, China was constantly the biggest source of foreigntourists to Vietnam, accounting for about 30% of the total international arrivalsin the Southeast Asian country. In 2019, Vietnam welcomed over 5.8 millionChinese visitors, according to the MCST.

Meanwhile,Vietnam was also one of the five largest sources of foreign tourists to China,which recorded over 7.9 million Vietnamese travellers in 2019 as calculated by theChinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Duringthe first 11 months of 2023, more than 11.2 million international tourists cameto Vietnam, including over 1.5 million Chinese arrivals, statistics show./.