One booth at a travel exhibition held in Berlin was blamed for showing images of a Chinese tourist destination, said an official.
Photos of Chinese Leshan Giant Buddha at Vietnam’s booth
Nguyen Van Tuan, Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNAT), said the agency paid fees for the firm's booth rental while Vietnam Airlines and travel firms paid fees for the booth's building.
“VNAT provides images to be displayed at the booth, none of which included images of Chinese tourist areas. The mistake was the fault of the organiser responsible for designing the booths of a number of countries. They mistakenly used Chinese landscapes for the Vietnamese booth," Tuan explained.
The mistake was noticed on March 5, the day of the exhibition opening, and was dealt with on the following morning, before the Vietnamese booth opened, according to Tuan.
“The photo featured the Chinese Leshan Giant Buddha, and was taken down the morning of March 6, before the booth opened. The photographer has admitted that he made a mistake and has since taken down the image from his Facebook page," he added.
The director of a Vietnamese travel firm that took part in the fair said, “Some people started asking us about Chinese tours. We didn't know why until one visitor pointed out the pictures."
Tuan added that it is not uncommon at travel fairs for visitors to ask about tours for the wrong country at booths set up by another country.
"This is really a simple issue, and it shouldn't be made into a fiasco. We've taken this as a lesson and will hold the responsible parties to account," said one VNAT official.
