This year’s theme for the annual regional tourism event is “Online travel, Vietnam tourism looks toward the fourth industrial revolution”.

Vu The Binh, vice president of the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) and representative of the organising board, says this year’s event has drawn 670 domestic and foreign exhibitors from many countries including the Republic of Korea, Japan, France, the UK, Germany, and Australia.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam says tourism serves as a bridge for people from different countries to meet and promote solidarity. He hopes that all Vietnamese people will join hands to develop a sustainable tourism industry.

Deputy PM Dam visits pavilions at the fair.

The fair offers many opportunities for visitors to discover new tourism products and services through hi-tech applications.

A pavilion of the Republic of Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). A KTO representative says the number of Vietnamese tourists to the RoK increased from 160,000 in 2014 to 320,000 in 2017.

The VITM attracts thousands of visitors on its first day, as travel agents launch an impressive range of promotional programs. 

A representative of Fiditour says many visitors have shown a keen interest in foreign tours to Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia, to North-east Asian countries such as the RoK, Japan, Hong Kong (China), and Taiwan (China), and to European countries including France and Italy.

More than 40,000 tickets for low-budget flights and 15,000 discounted package tours are on offer at the fair.

There are also spaces for art performances and to sample the cuisine of Vietnam and other countries.

The VITM will run until April 1.