Direct air routes deemed key to Vietnam-India tourism cooperation

A recently signed agreement between Indiaand the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport will serve as an importantlegal framework to facilitate the development of their transportinfrastructure, Billa noted at a tourism promotion event held by theVietnamese Embassy in New Delhi on March 24.

He saidthat India is one of the two countries that have had the most touristsgoing overseas in the world, and encouraged Vietnamese people to visit.He also suggested that if promotional activities are conductedeffectively, Vietnam will be a magnet for Indian visitors because itpossesses a multitude of attractive destinations, a rich culinaryculture and many shared spiritual and cultural similarities with hiscountry.

General Director of the Vietnam NationalAdministration of Tourism, Nguyen Van Tuan, said numerous measures havebeen taken to strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in tourism,since Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to India last October.

Following the decision of India’s second biggest carrier, Jet Airways,to open a direct air route to Vietnam, the Southeast Asian country’snational flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is also planning to launch adirect route to India. This will fuel tourism between the nations, Tuanclaimed.

Minister Counsellor of the VietnameseEmbassy, Tran Quang Tuyen, said India has seen the world’s fastestgrowth in the number of citizens travelling overseas, from 4.4 millionin 2000 to 17 million in 2013, up by 13 percent per year on average. Thefigure is expected to hit 50 million by 2020.

Although Vietnam welcomed 55,000 Indian tourist arrivals in 2014, asurge from 12,000 in 2007, the number accounted for only 0.07 percent ofthe total foreign visitors to Vietnam and 0.03 percent of Indiantourists who spent their holidays overseas.

Meanwhile, only 12,000 Vietnamese people visit India every year, withthe majority heading to Buddhist relic sites such as Gaya, Varanasi, andKushinagar, he noted. He said that this proves tourism cooperation isfar behind where it should be.

Tuyen urged for both countries step up tourism promotion and open more direct air routes as soon as possible.

Direct air routes deemed key to Vietnam-India tourism cooperation

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