The International Travel Expo in Ho Chi Minh City (ITE- HCMC) hassuccessfully promoted cooperation among the Mekong Tourism Alliance ofCambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Nguyen Thi Hong,Vice Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, made thestatement at the conference held in the city on March 26 to review ITEactivities over the last decade.

ITC-HCMC 2015, scheduled to takeplace from September 10-12, is expected to draw 15 foreign pressagencies and 25,000 visitors, Hong highlighted.

She addedthat in 2015, the municipal tourism sector is working towardsprofessional and sustainable tourism development with a focus ondiversifying tourism products in line with highlighting the culture ofVietnamese ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, Vice Director of themunicipal Tourism Department La Quoc Khanh said the ITC-HCMC hascontributed to the popularisation of Vietnamese tourism destinations butnoted the need for a specific strategy to organise the expo’sactivities.

At the event, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports andTourism Ho Anh Tuan spoke highly of the efforts made by municipalauthorities and the ITE-HCMC organising board in making the fair anational tourism event.

He asked relevant agencies to improve thequality of the tourism products, create favourable policies and tacklebarriers to tourism development in order to leverage the efficiency ofthe ITE.

Held for the first time in 2005, the ITE-HCMC isdesigned to promote not only the regional tourism market but also majordestinations around the world.-VNA