Building and developing a brand name for the Vietnamese tourism marketis a key solution to help the sector reach this year’s target ofwelcoming 8 million foreign and 40 million domestic tourists, andearning 220 trillion VND (10.34 billion USD), domestic tourism managershave said.

According to Deputy General Director of the VietnamNational Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Manh Cuong, attentionshould be paid to improving tourism infrastructure and developing thetourism workforce and brand name, in order to boost the growth ofVietnam’s tourism market.

Although Vietnam possesses alarge number of tourism and heritage sites recognised by UNESCO, levelsof foreign tourists coming to Vietnam have only risenmodestly in recent years, which was attributed to the nation’s poortransport facilities, added Cuong.

As many as 80 percent offoreign travellers arrive in Vietnam by air, he noted, suggestingthat the transport system should be upgraded to facilitate the growth ofthe sector.

He added that the country lacks skilful tourismmanagers and a motivated tourism workforce, and needs more officialsmastering tourism promotion and management.

In building abrand name and unique tourism products, the sector should concentrate onraising the quality of services and tourism workers, and theeffectiveness of its management, suggested the VNAT official.

Concurring with Cuong, Director of the Hanoi Tourist Corporation Luu DucKe said that professionalism is a determinant for creating hisbusiness’ Hanoitourist trade name.

He also emphasised theimportance of protecting brand names, calling for appropriate sanctionsto handle breaches of protected tourism brand names.

In 2013,Vietnam received 7,572,352 international tourists, a 10.6 percent riseover 2012, bringing in 200 trillion VND (9.4 billion USD) for the statecoffer. -VNA