VIETNAM International Travel Mart (VITM) 2024 welcomes 16 countries and regions with 25% of international exhibition booths out of a total of 450 booths. Among them, the three countries with the largest and most invested booths are India, South Korea and Taiwan, demonstrating their interest in and appreciation for the Vietnamese tourism market.
In particular, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) in Vietnam showcases one of the largest booths at the event with many exciting activities. KTO introduces useful South Korean tourism information to visitors along with many unique cultural experiences such as: wearing traditional Korean costumes (Hanbok) for free; participating in quizzes to receive gifts; exploring 100 unique Korean festivals…
At the VITM Hanoi 2024 fair, KTO Vietnam introduces to visitors various products and attractive destinations in Gangwon with famous landmarks such as Nami Island; the beauty of autumn foliage on Seorak Mountain or winter sports; Mureung Valley; Samaksan Lake cable car…
Gangwon is currently offering visa exemption for Vietnamese tourists entering through Yangyang International Airport. Director of Gangwon Tourism Promotion Agency Choi Sung Hyun said: In 2023, the number of tourists from Vietnam reached 420,000, ranking 5th among the total number of tourists visiting South Korea.
In particular, within the framework of VITM, South Korea also organizes many special cultural experiences such as wearing traditional Korean costumes (Hanbok) for free, exploring 100 unique Korean festivals…
Mr. Lee Jae Hoon, Chief Representative of KTO’s Representative Office in Vietnam, said: KTO is promoting the “100 Most Attractive Destinations in Korea” in the Vietnamese market. “Among the 100 destinations recommended to visitors, Gangwon Province is honored to have 10 tourist destinations that promise to bring visitors diverse and attractive experiences”.
According to KTO, in 2023, South Korea welcomed more than 420,000 Vietnamese tourists. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 118,629 Vietnamese tourists visited South Korea, an increase of 38.9% compared to the same period in 2023 and an increase of 8.5% compared to the same period in 2019. In the opposite direction, Vietnam also welcomed 3.6 million Korean tourists in 2023, ranking first in the international visitor markets to Vietnam.
Meanwhile, India, for the first time, has a booth at VITM, bringing many tourism publications such as: India tourism map, handbook introducing UNESCO heritages in India, Buddhist pilgrimage sites… In addition, the booth also organizes many cultural exchange activities such as: India quizzes, souvenir photos, henna painting…
Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Sandeep Arya said: India’s participation in VITM aims to promote tourism between the two countries. India has many destinations, many Buddhist heritages and relics, and is one of the places that can attract Vietnamese tourists. One of the factors that attracts visitors to India is spiritual tourism, especially the connection to Buddhism. Furthermore, India has many international heritages and relics. Currently, India has more than 40 UNESCO heritages and many relics spread from South to North.
Regarding the impressive growth of tourism between Vietnam and India in recent times, Ambassador Sandeep Arya shared: “Before VITM this year from 6 to 8 months, we organized many fam tours for Vietnamese travel companies to learn about tour packages that could attract Vietnamese tourists. India and Vietnam currently have 6 direct flights. We also want to introduce more options as well as new destinations besides traditional tourist attractions”.
“Last year, we recorded 45,000 Vietnamese tourists to India and that is a significant growth compared to 2022. In contrast, there were also 400,000 Indian tourists visiting Vietnam, ranking 8th among the countries visiting Vietnam. We hope that these numbers will continue to increase in the future”.
Similarly, participating in VITM 2024, the Taiwan (China) Tourism Bureau brought to the fair many impressive art activities imbued with traditional culture such as combined performances of the “Quang Tuong Thu” battle formation and T-POP street dance by a famous Taiwanese dance group; blogger Jani Travel and KOL Phuong Di Dau appeared to share their travel experiences and interact with visitors to the Taiwan booth at the fair.
Mr. Thach Thuy Ky, Chief Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam, said: This year, Taiwan participates with the largest booth area ever. The theme we choose to decorate is bubble tea, which is familiar to many Vietnamese people.
Vietnamese tourists to Taiwan are prioritized with two policies. For independent travelers, we have a lucky draw program with prizes up to 5,000 NTD (nearly 4 million VND) in the form of hotel accommodation, vouchers for shopping,… For group travelers, depending on the number of people and the number of days of stay, we have preferential programs from 5,000 to 50,000 NTD.
Within the framework of the event, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau in Vietnam organized the B2B Taiwan Tourism Promotion Workshop with the participation of more than 100 travel companies. Chairing this event, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (China) Office in Ho Chi Minh City, together with 21 tourism businesses and major airlines such as EVA Airlines, China Airlines and Starlux promoted the natural beauty, culture, people and tourism potential of Taiwan to Vietnamese businesses.
According to statistics, the number of Vietnamese tourists to Taiwan reached 382,529 in 2023. This is a recovery rate of 94% of 2019, when the number of visitors reached a record before the Covid-19 pandemic. Taiwan hopes to bring 12 million visitors to Taiwan, continuing to promote the rapid recovery of the local tourism industry.
According to information from the Kien Giang Tourism Association, in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, Taiwan, India and South Korea are also the three main markets bringing tourists to Phu Quoc. Domestic tourism has declined due to the impact of airfares, but the number of international visitors from the three markets above have a good growth rate, so Phu Quoc tourism is still very active and crowded.
