Singapore, Vietnam join hands to boost MICE tourism

Singapore, Vietnam join hands to boost MICE tourism

Scene at the Vietnam tourism roadshow in Singapore (Photo: VNA)

Singapore (VNA) – Tourism packages combining meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) hold big potential for cooperation between Vietnamese and Singaporean travel agencies, as heard at a roadshow event in Singapore on December 9.

Organised by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the event gathered 100 travel companies from both countries.

The roadshow featured information on Vietnam’s tourism infrastructure, products and support policies, particularly those related to the development of MICE, sport and cruise tours. At the event, VNAT representatives cleared up questions asked by Singaporean tour operators.

Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of the VNAT, said target tourists of Vietnam are not only Singaporeans but also citizens of other countries visiting and living in Singapore, which he called a cosmopolitan island.

Operating MICE tours is the strength of Singapore, which will be enhanced further through cooperation with Vietnam, Sieu noted.

Pham Tien Dung, head of the Golden Tour from Vietnam, said Singaporean visitors require professional services, and many local companies are interest in cultural–rich destinations in northern Vietnam.

Singapore is the last stop of the VNAT roadshow that has also travelled through Indonesia and Malaysia since December 5.

In 2015, Vietnam welcomed over 500,000 tourists from the three ASEAN countries. Malaysia took the lead with 230,000 arrivals of the total.

In the first ten months of 2016, the number of Singaporeans travelling to Vietnam jumped 8.5 percent compared to the same period last year.-VNA

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