More than 40 leading Vietnamese tourism companies have introduced their products at ITB 2018, the world’s largest tourism trade fair that opened in Germany’s Berlin on March 7. 

The Vietnamese booth at ITB 2018. 

The Vietnamese booths are set up on an area of 500 sq.m, 2.5 times larger than the area in the 2017 event, helping promote Vietnam’s image to international friends. 

The Vietnamese enterprises also took the occasion to advertise Vietnamese tourist destinations, seek opportunities to expand the market and exchange with their international partners. 

Visitors had a chance to explore Vietnam’s traditional culture through special art performances, as well as the country’s signature cuisines. 

The five-day fair brings together more than 10,000 travel companies from 189 countries and territories worldwide. 

Within the framework of the event, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, the Hanoi Centre for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion and a number of partners, including Vietnam Airlines, jointly held a press conference on Vietnam’s tourism. 

Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Doan Xuan Hung said the embassy will coordinate and work as a bridge to help Vietnamese travel companies cooperate with their German counterparts.

Ha Van Sieu, VNAT deputy head, highlighted Vietnam’s orientation towards sustainable and responsible tourism, saying the country has paid attention to improving the quality of services and developing technical infrastructure in order to better serve tourists.

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, more than 2.86 million foreigners visited Vietnam in January and February, up 29.7 percent from the same period in 2017. 

The numbers of tourist arrivals by air, road, and sea during the two-month period recorded respective annual increases of 26.3, 58.4, and 3.5 percent.

The VNAT said it aims to serve between 15 and 17 million foreigners and 78 million domestic travellers this year, with total revenue expected to hit 620 trillion VND (27.28 billion USD), up 21.35 percent on year.

With a growth of 30 percent in tourism in 2017, Vietnam for the first time came on the list of countries with fastest tourism growth speed in the world, ranking at the 6th place.-VNA