VietNamNet Bridge - International visitors to Vietnam in January-July 2015 reached 4,398,202 people, down 9.4% from the same period of 2014, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The poorly-decorated Vietnam House at the Expo Milan 2015.

Vu The Binh, VNAT Deputy Chairman, said that Vietnam's tourism was unable to lift the number of visitors. Apart from the lack of good tourism products, the promotion activities are still outdated. Tourism promotion agencies lack knowledge and experience to organize promotional events abroad that can catch the attention of other countries.

Many travel experts and travel firms said the professional work and efficiency of investment in tourism promotion is not good. This is one of the important reasons affecting the number of international visitors to Vietnam.

The director of a reputable travel company said many foreigners still think that Vietnam is still outdated as it has just left wartime.

The funding for tourism promotion is about VND30 billion ($1.5 million)/year. The tourism industry says the amount is not enough and cites it as the reason for poor tourism promotion activities.

They said Thailand spends $86 million for tourism promotion each year, Singapore $100 million, and Malaysia $130 million.

However, experts said that lack of funding was not the main cause but the way of doing tourism promotions.

Prof. Dr. Pham Trung Luong, Deputy Director of the Tourism Research and Development Institute, said that Vietnam does not have a specialized agency to organize tourism promotion events. The same annual event is organized by different organizations, so it is ineffective, Luong said.

Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Industry and Trade, said the VNAT still used the old way of participating in international tourism fairs and organizing farm/press trip delegations, while the efficacy of these forms is very difficult to measure.

Everyone does it, so no one does!

There are three levels of tourism promotion used by Vietnam tourism, by the Government, by provinces and by travel firms. As so many organizations carry out tourism promotion, the final results are not good.

Recently, the Prime Minister issued Directive 14 asking the Ministry of Culture - Sports and Tourism to reform tourism promotion through the participation of tourism associations and travel companies, while enhancing coordination with related agencies to promote tourism and culture, and the image of the country and people.

Tourism leaders acknowledged that cooperation among related agencies, managers, experts and travel firms is needed to find solutions.

Pha Le