Six countries, territories participate in Vietnam International Travel Mart

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

Hanoi – Businesses from six countries and territories have registered to participate in the Vietnam International Travel Mart, to be held at the Hanoi International Exhibition Centre on November 18-21 after many delays caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Organisers said at a press conference on November 6 that the foreign exhibitors will come from Thailand, Peru, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Colombia, with those from Colombia attending for the first time.

This year’s mart is expected to feature about 250 booths run by travel businesses as well as tourism management and promotion agencies of 47 provinces and centrally-run cities.

The event is typically held annually in April by the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Organisers said the expo, already postponed twice due to COVID-19, aims to create an opportunity for localities, organisations, and enterprises to advertise their brands, introduce products, and develop business partnerships in order to boost domestic, inbound, and outbound tourism.
They noted that, amid the COVID-19 outbreak, digital applications proved helpful in developing sustainable tourism. Therefore, to adapt to the post-pandemic era, VITM 2020 will focus on digital transformation-driven tourism.

Vietnam’s tourism broke a growth record in December 2019, however, the sector fell into a crisis after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. The sector is estimated to have lost tens of billions of dollars, which is the biggest crisis ever in the history of the sector.

Therefore, Vietnam International Travel Mart 2020 is hoped to boost national tourism, encouraging tourists nationwide to resume their travelling habits.

With software development companies among the exhibitors, the expo is set to help promote digitalisation and technological application to make fundamental changes to the management and activities of travel authorities and firms.
A domestic travel stimulus programme will be launched, while preparations for the resumption of inbound and outbound tourism and Vietnam’s post-COVID-19 tourism prospects will also be discussed.