Vietnam’s sustainable tourism development supported by Spain

Funded by Spanish Government through the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development, a € 400,000 project was carried out in some Central Highlands and northern mountainous provinces from November 2011 to February 2013.

Addressing the ceremony hosted by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to wrap up the project, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research Ha Van Sieu spoke highly of the connectivity between the project and other related ones, especially those implemented in the northern mountainous area.

As part of the project, a community-based tourism website connecting northwestern provinces was established, serving as a forum for localities to exchange experience and popularize their images in tourism development, he said.

It also provided handbooks guiding the management and development of tourism for managerial staff, and the development of a green tourism label for shops, restaurants and hotels, Sieu said, adding that these documents are essential for Vietnam’s sustainable tourism development.

Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam Alfonso Tena said Vietnam is on the right track to improve the quality and diversity of its tourism services to lure more foreign visitors, citing that the country expects to welcome 7 million international arrivals this year.

He added that the project, which focused on policies of social responsibility, aimed to help Vietnam meet international standards in providing tourism services to attract foreign tourists.

VNAT’s Director General Nguyen Van Tuan said that Vietnam will learn tourism development experience from Spain as it ranks second in tourism revenues and fourth in tourist attraction in the world.

Besides this project, Vietnam also received support from Spain through other projects, including those to popularize the Tourism Law, build Vietnam’s tourism marketing strategy and make tourism planning for Cat Ba Island and Hue city.

Tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Spain has seen positive developments over the past time, with over 31,300 Spanish tourists visiting Vietnam in 2012 and 7,200 in the first four months of this year.

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Lao Airlines expansion

Laos Airlines

From Threeland Travel Indochina's Blog - June 2012

Lao Airlines commercial director, Saleum Tayarath, informed that this year the carrier will launch charter services to Seoul in Korea in August and three weekly scheduled services to Guangzhou by November.

According to the statistics from the Tourism Development Department of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, tourist arrivals from Korea soared 42.66%, as the low-cost Jin Air in Korea recently started two weekly scheduled services after operating charter flights. In the China market, China Eastern Airlines has been operating flights from Kunming and Nanning to Vientiane, while Laos Airlines currently offers flights to Kunming and Jinghong. Arrivals from China grew significantly at 33.7%.

Regarding network expansion, Mr. Saleum said the carrier was dealing with Airbus to obtain A321 or A320 aircraft to operate medium-haul flights. In the current situation, the carrier operates 10 aircraft – two A320s, four ATR72s and four MA-60s.

This expansion will play an important role in improving the flight service quality and boosting North East Asian visitors to enter Laos market, making it an emerging tourism site in Asia. Tourists can easily opt for multiple choices of flight routes with lower expenses and shorter itinerary, together with better customer services. If you want to access more information or make any enquiry about this field, please contact us or visit: Threeland Travel's website.

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