The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and Lao Dong (Labour) Daily launched a writing contest themed “Vietnam: Endless beauty” in Hanoi on October 13. 

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam welcomed more than 9.4 million international tourists, up 28.4 percent year-on-year

The contest aims to promote tourism towards turning the sector into an economic spearhead of Vietnam, said VNAT Director General Nguyen Van Tuan at the launching ceremony. 

It is open to all Vietnamese people at home and abroad who want to share their experience in travelling to tourist destinations across Vietnam and raise initiatives for sustainable tourism development.  

Entries must be in Vietnamese with a maximum 1,500 words in length accompanied by at least one photo, and have not been published in any mass media outlets or websites, nor participated in any other contests. 

Video clips submitted to the contest should not last for more than eight minutes and must have subtitles. 

Participants should send their entries to Lao Dong Newspaper, No.6 Pham Van Bach Street, Cau Giay Precinct, Hanoi, by mail, or email to dulich@laodong.com.vn.

Deadline for entry submission is May 31, 2018. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on July 9, 2018 to mark the 58th anniversary of the Vietnamese tourism sector. 

There will be two first prizes each worth 20 million VND (880 USD) separately for text and video entries, two second, three third and five consolidating prizes. The winners will also get free tours and discounts in air tickets and accommodation. 

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam welcomed more than 9.4 million international tourists, up 28.4 percent year-on-year and fulfilling nearly 73 percent of the assigned target, and served 57.9 million domestic travellers. 

During the reviewed period, the tourism sector earned 376 trillion VND (16.5 billion USD) in revenues, representing a year-on-year rise of 26.5 percent. 

The Prime Minister has assigned the sector to serve 13 million international visitors in 2017, up 30 percent from 2016.

To that end, the VNAT has employed synchronous measures, focusing on tourism promotion in key markets like Europe, Northeast Asia, ASEAN and China, Tuan said.

He added that the sector plans to hold a road tour in China, participate in the World Travel Market in the UK and welcome five delegations who come to scope out the Vietnamese tourism market during the remaining months of this year.

VNA