The two-day conference “Vietnam Tourism in the 21st century” opened on December 5 at the British University Vietnam in Hanoi.

illustrative photo.

The event marks the participation of researchers and experts from Vietnam and other countries including the UK, France, Spain, Australia, Iran, Indonesia, Thailand, among others, to create an open space to discuss the practicalities, opportunities, and challenges in Vietnamese tourism and tour operation.

Vietnam is a key contributor to regional tourism growth with increasing numbers of both international and domestic tourists year by year. The country saw almost 15.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2018. This number will likely be surpassed in 2019 due to strong growth rates.

Despite the social, cultural and economic implications of tourism in Vietnam, the industry has drawn little attention from the international academic community. As a result, the event is expected to create a basic network to promote the cooperation among domestic and foreign researchers who share common interest as well as make the researches on Vietnam tourism better known to the international academic community.

The conference features several sessions in various themes including Tourism planning and development, Festivals and events in Vietnam, Destination marketing and branding, Vietnamese domestic tourism, Vietnamese outbound tourism, among others.