As part of the efforts made to further enhance the friendly Qatar-Vietnam relations, the Vietnamese embassy in Doha organised a seminar on Sunday evening to promote tourism in Vietnam in collaboration with some local travel agencies and a major Vietnamese travel operator.
The seminar titled 'Welcome back to Vietnam' was inaugurated by Tran Duc Hung, Vietnam's ambassador to Qatar. He stressed that "this event is aimed at strengthening co-operation in the tourism industry between Vietnam and Qatar as well as the GCC".
"Vietnam is a land of natural wonders and rich cultures, and it is emerging as a potential and attractive tourist destination for tourists from the Gulf countries," he said.
"It is with a practical and progressive approach that we envision the reopening of regional and inter-regional travel routes; taking into consideration not only the will of international tourists to visit Vietnam, but also the growing enthusiasm of Vietnamese people to travel abroad and explore the world.”
He said while the number of tourists from Qatar to Vietnam is still limited and amounted to some 1,000 people in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, there is great potential for the Qatari market to explore the Vietnamese tourism sector. The embassy will do its best to facilitate the related procedures and introduce the huge tourism potentials of Vietnam and the great experiences the country has to offer to its visitors.
The ambassador said the Vietnamese government is set to further ease Covid-19 restrictions and open up to welcome more tourists into the country. Meanwhile, he expected that as Qatar is hosting the FIFA World Cup this year, many Vietnamese fans would be very eager to come to Doha and enjoy the event as Vietnamese people have always been enthusiastic about football.
Ngo Minh Duc, chairman of ASIA DMC - a leading tourism company in Vietnam - who is currently visiting Qatar, stressed his deep appreciation of the state-of-the-art Hamad Intentional Airport (HIA) and the hassle-free and easy travel experience he enjoyed at the airport, noting that this is his first visit to the country. He also described the procedures and facilities at HIA as among the best in the world due to his extensive travel experiences around the world.
He said it is expected that many Vietnamese football fans would like to come to come to Qatar this year to attend the major FIFA event and also enjoy what the country has to offer.
Present at the event were the heads and managers of 10 travel companies in Qatar, including Regency Travel and Tours, Tawfeeq Travel, NBK Travel & Tourism, Arabian Link Travel and Mosafer Travel, as well as representatives from Qatar Airways, who were briefed on the travel industry in Vietnam and the main tourist attractions there besides the excellent tourist facilities available there.
"Vietnam’s tourism industry showed exceptional growth along with the country’s economy and occupies, today, an integral position as a vibrant and connected hub in Southeast Asia. Before Covid-19 in 2019, the country welcomed 18mn international tourists and served 85mn domestic tourists, which show an increase of 16% and 6%, respectively, compared to 2018. Total revenues from tourism have reached around $32.8bn, which account for nearly 9.2% of the GDP of Vietnam," the ambassador added.
 
 
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