UNWTO to Assist Vietnam in Tourism Development: General-Secretary

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) will send experts to Vietnam to help the country develop a home stay tourism model in remote areas, said an official. Taleb Rifai, General-Secretary of the organization made the statement at a press conference in Hanoi on April 20, held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. UNWTO will transfer documents and share experience in sustainable tourism development and solutions to environmental protection to Vietnam so that Vietnam could improve its tourism management and development, he said. The Vietnamese ministry also asked UNWTO to assist in developing a strategy to build and promote tourism brand names. Taleb Rifai said he had discussed with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) about carrying out some technical assistance projects. He notably asked the country to participate in the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign to raise awareness and support from leaders in the world for tourism. Though Vietnam had gained various achievements and become one of the Asian countries with highest growth rate in tourism development over the past years, the country needs more effective campaigns to popularize its image worldwide, Taleb Rifai noted. According to VNAT, Vietnam welcomed over 1.87 million foreign arrivals in the first three months of this year, an on-year increase of 24.5%. The tourism industry also served about 9.6 million local tourists in the reviewed period. Vietnam has built a strategy to develop tourism for each period, which targets to receive between 10-10.5 million foreign visitors and 47-48 million local tourists by 2020 and generate tourism revenues of $18 million-$19 billion. (Kinh Te Do Thi – Economy & Urban April 23 p4, Quan Doi Nhan Dan – People’s Army April 21)