The time has come for tourism and aviation to quickly seize the opportunity to recover in the new context, turning Vietnam into a good destination and placing the country in a competitive position in the international market.

General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh emphasized the close and inseparable relationship between the two sectors, affirming that coordination with local airlines to develop domestic and international markets is a permanent task of VNAT.

Delegates at the conference. Photo: VNAT

Speaking at the conference, themed “Aviation - Tourism Cooperation: Connecting Global Destinations” held on December 27 in Danang, Khanh said that the two sectors should jointly map out policies to help their businesses overcome the impacts of Covid-19, recover and develop.

For the coming year, the tourism sector targets to welcome 110 million tourists, including eight million international. Total tourism revenues are expected to reach VND650 trillion (US$27.3 billion).

To achieve this goal, the sectors should focus on creating packages of combined tourism products with high quality and suitable prices, and exploiting main product lines.

Khanh said the two sides would jointly launch the "Live Vietnam Fully" promotion campaign to provide visitors with safe tourism and aviation activities and the best experiences, at the same time applying technology to improve the quality and efficiency of services, including e-ticketing systems, automatic access control systems, and many smart products.

“We should build an ecosystem of the aviation-tourism industry on the basis of mutual development while connecting other industries such as logistics. In addition, it is necessary to intensify investment in aviation infrastructure to minimize overload,” he said.

Expanding air connections with China and India 

One of the first Indian tourists to Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province on September 9. Photo: Vietjet

To develop international aviation operations, Deputy Director of the Air Transport Division under the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) Bui Minh Dang said the agency will continue to update and exchange information with aviation authorities in China and India to legalize Vietnamese airlines in these countries.

"In this regard, it is necessary to study the possibility of increasing the frequency of flights between Vietnam and the two countries," he added.

To make the plan possible, Dang requested the government to put forth a proposal for high-level work programs with China and India.

He also recommended the government consider easing visa regulations for international tourists, including increasing the length of stay and expanding the list of countries eligible for visa exemption.

The CAAV official also expected policies that favor the development of other aviation services, such as sightseeing flights and private flights for groups of high-class tourists.

At the event, economist Can Van Luc said that it is necessary to speed up the disbursement of public investment and the 2022-2023 socio-economic recovery and development program while adopting policies to facilitate inbound tourism.

He added that the government needs to remove bottlenecks to improve access to credit for travel and accommodation businesses, refine the legal framework for the development of the digital economy and digital tourism, and remove legal problems for tourism property. 

Policies supporting the development of human resources should be another focus, Luc said.

In 2022, the country welcomed some 3.5 million international visitors, reaching 70% of the full-year target, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The country has resumed the visa waiver policy for citizens of 13 countries after two years of border closures due to Covid-19. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Singapore have exempted visas for travelers from 162 countries, the Philippines from 157, and Thailand from 65 countries.