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Airlines, tour firms urged to co-operate
Greater co-operation between airlines and the tourism industry is indispensable to the development of both, says Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Director Nguyen Van Tuan.
"This is enormous potential for the tourism and aviation sectors to co-operate, promoting the national economy and creating an attractive image of the country and the Vietnamese people for international tourists," Tuan said, noting that tourism development has been a high priority for the Government during national economic reform and international integration.
Over 70 per cent of airline passengers are tourists, and up to 80 per cent of tourist arrive in Viet Nam by air, Tuan noted.
Around 800 international tour operators and thousands of domestic operators were operating nationwide, especially in HCM City, Ha Noi, and the central city of Da Nang City.
Meanwile, the nation could boast of 20 airports around the country with regularly scheduled flights, all administered under the three major regional aviation authorities. In addition to the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, over 20 other airlines were operating in Viet Nam.
"The aviation sector plays an important role in the task of serving national tourism development," said the deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam, Lai Xuan Thanh, arguing that the nation boasts a huge potential to compete against other major regional tourism markets.
Yet, while the domestic aviation market grew by 22 per cent last year, international arrivals declined by 2.5 per cent.
Despite co-operation between the tourism industry and the airline sector in trade fairs and international tourism exhibitions, the two sectors still failed to share information, Thanh said.
The Head of the VNAT's travel department, Vu The Binh, agreed, saying that the co-operation has been passive.
"Out of 30 foreign airlines with representative offices or flights in and out of Viet Nam, none conduct co-operative programmes with the VNAT," Binh said.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Chien Thang said both the aviation and tourism sectors needed to be brought into play in promoting Viet Nam's image abroad.
"Both sectors should collaborate in providing information on tourism destinations and products for tourists before planes land," Thang said.
Vietnam Airlines needed to apply special price policies in co-operative programmes with the VNAT and the Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as jointly market international destinations, he said.
Travel firms needed to create conditions to bring tourists to Viet Nam with quality products and services and reasonable prices.
"The two sectors should to co-operate to create attractive tourism products and promotions," agreed Nguyen The Vinh, Deputy Director of Saigontourist, the nation's leading tour operator. "The effort would not only be effective but also help reduce costs as they can share resources and markets."
The two sectors should strengthen information exchange and expand markets and flight routes both domestically and abroad, added the deputy head of VNAT's tourism marketing department, Vu Thi Thanh Huong.
This year, as part of the programme entitled Viet Nam: Your Destination, slated for August and September, they planned to jointly offer promotional and discount programmes to attract foreign tourists, Huong said.
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