VietNamNet Bridge - In 2012, the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam reached over 6.8 million, with revenues of $ 6.61 billion. "Tourism in our country was born from the '60s, but since then we have not built a national tourism brand,” said Dr. Pham Trung Luong.

Being recognized as one of the 10 countries with the highest growth rate in tourism in the world, the real figures that Vietnam tourism earned are modest compared with other countries in the region like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Specifically, Vietnam attracted 6,847,678 tourists in 2012 compared to 22,303,065 of Thailand and 25,035,400 of Malaysia.

Regarding revenues, Vietnam earned $6.61 billion in 2012 compared to $30.92 billion of Thailand, $19.79 billion of Malaysia was and $19.38 billion of Singapore.

Compared to these countries, Vietnam’s tourism grew in number but the quality was much lower than theirs.

It should start from the specific work

One of the reasons for this situation is associated with the brand story of Vietnam tourism. According to experts in the tourism industry, the brand of a country plays a very important role.

The development and promotion of the brand in order to establish an image of the country as an impressive destination, so that increasing competitive advantages in the world's tourism market is becoming a "vital" issue for the tourism industry.

In this regard, Dr. Pham Trung Luong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Tourism Research and Development, said that Vietnam’s tourism industry was born from the '60s, but since then Vietnam has not yet built a national tourism brand. Tourism promotion still does not work because Vietnam does the traditional way, not the right direction. If the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism stops promotion activities, international visitors will keep going to Vietnam because they come here primarily through the recommendation of relatives and friends.

Dr. Luong said that developing tourism and building brand are clearly uneasy, but it is not too difficult if having the right understanding of brands and brand building and doing it right in the first step first. When the conception is proper, the message will be clear and communication will be very easy.

“To take the Vietnam tourism brand to the regional and international levels, it is not simply to be done immediately. This requires time and satisfactory investment. But right from this moment, if we do not start from particular tasks, it would hardly to have a national tourism brand as desired," Luong added

To solve this problem, the General Director of VNAT, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, said that the strategic task of the agency in the current period is building the brand for Vietnam's tourism.

Xuan Hai