Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the creation of the Tourism Development Assistance Fund at the National Meeting for Tourism Development.

The objective of the Fund is to boost investment in product development, train and develop human resources, and improve institutional capacity in the tourism sector.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) is to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to report to the Prime Minister on the establishment of the Fund in September.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will work with MCST, the Da Nang People’s Committee, and other related agencies to organize a promotional campaign to attract tourists during APEC 2017, being held in the central city.

MCST will coordinate closely with the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, embassies, Vietnamese representative offices, ministries, agencies, and localities to promote Vietnam’s tourism in foreign countries, review and evaluate effectiveness to date, and consider attendance at tourism fairs and festivals. Organizing international tourism fairs in Vietnam is also an important mission requiring greater focus.

Prime Minister Phuc requested that MCST coordinate with other ministries, agencies and localities to control tourism service quality, handle violations, and strengthen the management capacity of cultural heritage sites and natural tourism sites.

Local provinces should coordinate with MCST and other ministries to control service quality in tourist areas and monitor price management of tourism services.

Funding sources will include visa fees, tourism fees, and contributions from tourism enterprises, organizations, individuals and other sources under law. The State budget will initially provide VND200-300 billion ($9-13 million).

The Prime Minister noted that tourism must become a sustainably developing economic sector and contribute to socio-economic development and national construction and defense.

National Tourism Year 2016 kicked off on April 10 on Phu Quoc Island, off the coast of the Mekong Delta’s Kien Giang province. National Tourism Year 2017 will be hosted by Lao Cai province, in Vietnam’s northern mountainous area.

International visitors to Vietnam in August were estimated at 899,738, an increase of 6.3 per cent against July and up 34.4 per cent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. Total international arrivals in the first eight months reached 6.4 million, 25.4 per cent higher year-on-year, while domestic tourists numbered 43.1 million.

VN Economic Times