Tourism

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) recently launched a photo contest called #VietnamNOW on Facebook to promote Vietnam's tourism to the world.

Vietnam ranked fourth in Southeast Asia in the number of international arrivals in the first half of 2019, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association's (PATA) latest quarterly tourism monitor.

Officials from four southern provinces of Laos, central and southern provinces of Vietnam, and tourism-related businesses have gathered in Champassak province to discuss measures to draw more visitors to the two countries.

The northern province of Ninh Binh served more than 6.5 million holiday-makers between January and September, reeling in nearly 29 trillion VND (125 billion USD) in total.

The Ministry of Justice in the Republic of Korea (RoK) has decided to temporarily waive fees for short-term visas for citizens of all ASEAN member states, including Vietnam, in a bid to boost visitor numbers from the regional community and entice people to make business trips.

Spiritual cultural tourism in the northern province of Ninh Binh has attracted a large number of both domestic and foreign tourists, not only turning Ninh Binh into one of Vietnam's top attractive tourist destinations but also creating jobs for rural workers, thus empowering Vietnam tourism in the international arena.

After two years of locating inside the core area of Trang An landscape, the film studio made for Hollywood blockbuster Kong: Skull Island was demolished on September 20.

The National Tourism Year 2020, themed "Hoa Lu - Ancient Capital of Millennium", will be taking place in Ninh Binh province. The opening ceremony is scheduled for February 2020.

Attracting investment and taking advantage of all social resources to accelerate tourism growth is the direction being applied by many localities, including Ninh Binh and Ha Nam. Situating in the southwest of the Red River Delta, the two provinces possess a lot of natural resources and cultural heritages and can cooperate with each other to improve tourism competitiveness.

The Department of Statistic Office (GSO) announced, in August 2019, Ninh Binh's travel revenue estimated to reach nearly 226 billion VND (9,7 million USD), a year-on-year increase of 13 percent.

Vietnam ranks 63rd among 140 countries and territories in the recently released Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2019, jumping up four places compared to the latest 2017 ranking.

An annual international tourism expo opened in Ho Chi Minh city, on September 5, attracting travel companies from over 40 countries worldwide, and enterprises and agencies from 45 provinces and cities across the country, including Ninh Binh.

Ninh Binh province has, in recent years, issued a number of policies to encourage enterprises to invest in tourism infrastructure and facilities.

The central province of Quang Nam's People's Committee on August 21 organized a press conference announcing activities on the celebration of the 20th anniversary of recognition of Hoi An ancient town and My Son Sanctuary as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the 10th anniversary of recognition of Cham Islands as the World Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO.

The northern province of Ninh Binh has launched a tourism promotion on video app TikTok as part of #HelloVietnam programme.

The Steering Committee for National Tourism Year 2020 - Ninh Binh convened the first meeting in Hanoi on August 21.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has picked out Vietnam as one of the world's 10 fastest-growing tourism destinations.

The Ninh Binh provincial People's Commitee has recently issued a document urging functional agencies to enhance inspection of low - budget tours (so called zero - dong tours) in the locality.

The US magazine National Geographic has listed Tran Quoc Pagoda in Hanoi and Buu Long Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City among the 20 most beautiful Buddhist temples.