International donors join hands to boost Vietnam’s tourism

Delegates at the meeting pointed out priorities for the sector’s development, roles and responsibilities of relevant agencies as well as mechanisms for co-operation in order to avoid overlapping and wastefulness in mobilising resources.

Speaking at the meeting, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Van Tuan said that Vietnam has received strong support from many countries, regional and international organisations, including the EU, which has generated positive effects on the development of the country’s tourism.

He noted that the valuable assistance have helped the country successfully realise its tourism development strategies in the 2001-2010 period and in the 2011-2020 period with a vision to 2030.

Developing tourism has been identified by the State as a significant solution to boost the service sector, generate more jobs, improve incomes, and successfully fulfil assigned tasks in the national plan for socio-economic development, he stressed.

He noted that although Vietnam’s tourism has retained its rapid growth speed, the sector is still facing many challenges in its competitiveness and sustainability, which require inter-sectoral and inter-regional co-ordination and wider participation of the community to address.

According to Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam’s Co-operation and Development Section, Tom Corrie, as the largest tourism donor in Vietnam, the EU has provided more than EUR 20 million for the country over the past 12 years so far to organise tourism training courses, improve service quality and increase capacities for comprehensive and responsible tourism development.

The event, held under the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme (EU-ESRT), provided an opportunity to set up continuous and effective co-ordination mechanisms between organisations and agencies which are currently providing support for Vietnam’s tourism industry.

It also contributes to facilitating the establishment of a Vietnam National Administration of Tourism-hosted “Tourism Forum”, which is expected to attract more financial and technical support for the country’s hospitality sector in the coming time.

Apart from the EU-ESRT, foreign organisations have also funded tourism initiatives in Vietnam, such as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration sponsored by the Germany Agency for Technical Co-operation, projects to develop tourism in Quang Nam and Thua Thien - Hue provinces by UNESCO, and the ‘Ha Long Bay Alliance’ programme to protect and preserve the site by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

There are also other projects run by the Asian Development Bank, International Labour Organisation, World Wildlife Fund, Italian Embassy and the Swiss Cooperation Office for Vietnam.