Vietnam, for the first time, has added India to the group of potential visitor-generating markets in which the local tourism industry should carry out promotion activities and build products to woo visitors, an official said. Hoang Thi Diep, Deputy Director General, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said that VNAT would conduct its first-ever market survey in India by late 2011 for market expansion. “This is a large and potential market which should be approached by now,” she said.
According to report by Dao Loan in The Saigon Times, at present, Vietnam’s neighbouring countries like Thailand or Singapore are recording large numbers of Indian visitors. However, the number of Indian tourists, mainly from the MICE segment, to Vietnam is scanty, and the number of tourist companies exploring this market is trivial.
“Indian tourist source is quite good but hard to exploit as such travellers know little about Vietnam. Moreover, high tour fees and the lack of direct flights make it inconvenient for Indians to visit Vietnam as tourists have to transit from Singapore or Bangkok,” said the director of a Ho Chi Minh City-based travel firm. |