HCM City to host Int’l travel expo in September

HCM City to host Int’l travel expo in September

HCM City to host Int’l travel expoSaigontourist cooperates with JATA

Representatives of Saigontourist met with Vice Chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) Kazuaki Maruo on August 22, discussing measures to increase the flow of tourists between Vietnam and Japan.

Speaking at the meeting, also attended by a group of leading Japanese travel agencies, Vo An Tai, Saigontourist Director General and Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said the visit shows the high level of importance the Japanese partners attach to Vietnamese market.

Tai affirmed that Japan is an important tourist market of Saigontourist, adding that his company will continue to seek expanded cooperation with Japanese travel agencies to better serve both Vietnamese clients and the Japanese tourism industry.

For his part, Kazuakia thanked Tai for the gestures of cooperation, saying he too wants to work to develop a richer and more robust tourism industry for the mutual benefit of the partners, realizing its fullest potential.

Responsible tourism heads toward sustainable future

While many ecological destinations across the country are being damaged, some projects aiming at responsible tourism models promise to ensure the development of sustainability and competitiveness in tourism.

Aiming to turn ideas on protecting the ecological environment into concrete tourism activities, projects such as Responsible Tourism Club or the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme (ESRT), have been deployed across the country. The projects have contributed to the protection of Vietnam’s tourism resources.

Representatives of tourism companies and travel agencies affirmed that tourism is not only satisfying tourist demands but also showcasing traveller responsibility toward the tourism destinations through transparent and ethical behaviour. The representative said that 99% of foreign visitors have complied with tourism protocols , while the number of domestic visitors was lower.

In the face of the situation, Responsible Tourism Club members have discussed ways to call on community and tourism stakeholders in protecting the ecological environment. A series of activities, including walking tours, cycling tours, xich lo (pedicab) tours that attach ‘Don’t Litter‘ slogans, have been employed by the Responsible Tourism Club.

Responsible Tourism Club has also organised projects in Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, and Quang Ninh to raise awareness of local people in environmental protection.

Meanwhile, the ESRT programme has implemented a series of responsible tourism seminars across the country. These capacity-building seminars cover the critical areas that impact upon sustainability in tourism, including product development, marketing and communications, employment, capacity building, supply chain management, destination development, impact monitoring, cultural and natural heritage planning and management, accommodation provision, food and beverage operation, policy and planning, and community action.

Responsible tourism development is seen as the solution for balancing competitive growth with sustainability and encouraging business development, while ensuring social development and resource conservation.

The programme emphasises how destination governments, the business sector, communities and tourists can adopt and benefit from responsible tourism with the help of prepared resource materials, policies and strategies, capacity building programmes, awareness raising campaigns and the facilitation of public/private dialogue forums, workshops and conferences to generate a greater understanding amongst all stakeholders of the social and environmental impacts of tourism and ways and means by which the negative impacts may be minimised and positive impacts enhanced.

Responsible tourism in Vietnam is expected to open up the luxury market and increase visitors’ experience and contentment when visiting the country, thus making contributions to Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

VNS/VOV/ND

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