Vietnam earns US$16.5 billion following reopening of international tourism

The nation raked in US$16.5 billion after reopening to international tourism, according to industry insiders.

This information was released at the fifth Conference of the Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) and the sixth meeting of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).

Vietnamese delegations led by Ha Van Sieu, deputy general director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (second from left) at the event

The main aim of the conferences was to review the results of tourism co-operation between countries from 2019 to 2022, as well as to discuss various orientations for tourism development in the ACMECS and CLMV regions.

Ha Van Sieu, deputy general director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said Vietnam fully reopened up to international tourism on March 15 and has since been recognised by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as the first Southeast Asian country to completely remove COVID-19 travel barriers.

During the passt nine months of the year, the country welcomed more than 1.87 million international arrivals, along with 86.8 million domestic tourists, earning a total revenue of approximately US$16.5 billion in the process.

In terms of the ACMECS sub-region, Vietnam welcomed more than 110,000 visitors from four CLMT countries.

During these events, delegates exchanged and agreed to report to their ministers on the adoption of the ACMECS Tourism Action Plan for the 2023 to 2025 period, focusing largely on tourism product development and tourist information exchange. This is along with tourism human resource development, tourism promotion, and the mobilisation of the involvement of the private sector.

Moving forward, the country is to be assigned to lead and co-ordinate the task of developing tourism products in the future.

Meanwhile, participants also agreed to report to the Ministers on the adoption of the CLMV Tourism Action Plan for the 2023 to 2025 period, with a specific focus on facilitating travel, enhancing tourism capacity, mobilising the participation of the private sector and local communities, and developing sustainable and responsible tourism.

When the 11th Tourism Ministers Meeting (TMM11) Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) recently took place in Thailand, Vietnam was also highly appreciated for being the only one of the 21 APEC economies not to have any travel restrictions in place.

(Source:VOV)