Following the success of 2009’s “Impressive Vietnam” tourism campaign, Vietnam’s tourism sector is now wooing a nationwide support for its new program for 2010, the “Vietnam – Your Destination” aimed to rev up foreign arrivals to the country by 18-21 percent than that of last year. Coordinated efforts from Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Trade Promotion department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade was necessary since under the stimulus program, supermarkets, shopping centers, souvenir shops, hotels, restaurants and the cooperation of other tourism-related trades are needed to successfully deploy the campaign.

Along with the shops and hotels, the transportation sector, travel agencies and participating airlines are prompted to offer 30-50% discounts both to local and foreign travelers to encourage the tourists to spend. To make the campaign convenient as possible for them, travelers would only be required to present their passports or identification cards to avail of the Tourist Privilege Card and shopping coupons granted by selected supermarkets, shopping joints, hotels and travel offices. On top of that, tourists would be refunded for the VAT charges in their every purchase.

Participating businesses will register with the Industry and Trade Department and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of their respective city, which in turn, the department will keep VNAT informed of newer additions. Vu The Binh, head of VNAT’s travel department expressed confidence that he will see familiar names on the list, those who greatly contributed in last year’s campaign success, yet is hopeful to see more units and agents to cooperate. According to him, his administration intends to spend VND 1.7 billion for the program’s promotional activities.

In response to the call for enjoined efforts from different sectors, Vietnam Airlines had already launched early this month discount offers on their ticket prices, bringing down their domestic ticket cost to 50%. The move allowed certain travel offices like The He Tre (Young Generation) Travel Company to shave off 30-35% from their tour prices as well. Other agencies are expected to follow. The General Statistics Office in Hanoi have reported a 27.4 increase in foreign arrivals in the first two months of this year compared to 2009. Along with the numbers, Chinese tourists have shown to significantly rise to 90.8 percent. As the country aims for some 4.5-4.6 million foreign tourists for 2010, a stronger cooperation and closer coordination from the different enterprises and involved agencies is pertinent, along with continued commitments to successfully carry out the campaigns for the whole duration of “Vietnam – Your Destination”.