At the seminar to promote Vietnam's tourism potential and opportunities (Photo: VNA) Paris (VNA) – Vietnam’s tourism potential and opportunities werespotlighted at a seminar held at the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Paris onNovember 16.
The event was attended by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen VanHung, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, Director of the VietnamNational Authority of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh, and representatives oftravel firms in France.
In his opening remarks, Khanh laid stress on the country’s rich endowments of naturalresources and culture, which have been capitalised on to boost sustainabletourism development.
He went on to say that an array of Vietnamese destinations and tourism offeringshave been highly rated by some of the world’s renowned travel sites and media giants such asthe World Travel Awards, TripAdvisor, or Telegraph, CNNand BBC.
Travel between Vietnam and France has been promoted on the back of bilateral cooperative agreements and directflights that help connect big cities and travel hubs of both sides, he said,adding the Vietnamese tourism sector has organised an array of promotionactivities in France with a view to enhancing exchanges of visitors between thetwo sides.
The Vietnamese Government’s visa-exemption for French visitors since 2015, andrecent extension of visa-free stays to 45 days, coupled with easy immigrationprocedures, attractive tourism products, and locals’ hospitality are idealconditions to enhance tourism activities, he said.
Expressing their wish to increase the number of French tourists to Vietnam, many French travel firms proposed measures for Vietnam’s tourism to develop in a stronger mannernot only in France but also in the other markets.
Guillaume Linton, General Director of Asia Voyage which has run tours toVietnam over the past 35 years, said inviting journalists, professional touroperators and tourism partners to discover new tours in Vietnam will help them gaina better insight into the country’s cultural identity.
Meanwhile, Anoa Suzanne 🗹Dussol, Vietnamese Tourism Ambassador to France, saidshe wants to branch out business and conference tours so as to bring moreFrench enterprises to northern mountainous areas.
She said the combination of culture, tourism and enterprises will benefit allstakeholders.
Delegates witnessed the handover of cooperation minutes between Vietravel’s branch in France and Vietnam Airlines; and the Vietnamese Cultural Centre and the association for Vietnamese culture and tourism promotion in France and Europe (Photo: VNA) 
