VN tourism stand uses Chinese photo, sparks fury
TUOITRENEWS
Vietnamese netizens were Friday angered by a photo posted on Facebook that shows the tourism booth of Vietnam at an international tourism trade fair behind a large banner featuring a well-known landscape in China.
The photo was taken at the International Tourism Trade Fair of Berlin (IBT), where the Vietnamese stand was seen hanging the photo of China-based Leshan Giant Buddha, a huge statue of Buddha in sitting posture carved out of a cliff face in Sichuan, instead of a Vietnamese tourism spot.
A member of the Vietnamese delegation at the fair pictured the scene and posted it on Facebook on Friday, triggering a wave of fury among local Internet users.
However, Phan Dinh Tan, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said the Chinese photo was only a mistake that was fixed before the fair officially kicked off.
“It was only a mistake when setting up the booth, and the photo is not the official image of the Vietnamese stand at the fair,” Tan said.
“During the installation of the booth, some officials detected the wrong photo and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism had asked to remove it,” he said, citing information from VNAT chief Nguyen Van Tuan.
Tuan said he had been assigned to lead the Vietnamese delegation at the fair, but had later transferred the duty to another official due to his illness.
According to Vietnamese officials, the Leshan Giant Buddha photo was only temporarily positioned in front of the booth by workers during setting up the stand, and was immediately removed upon completion, Tuan said.
The workers were hired by a partner of Vietnam Airlines, which cooperated with the VNAT to represent Vietnam at the IBT.
Tuan said the photo was captured on March 5, while the IBT opened a day later.
“So I’m sure that the photo was not on display during the fair, and no international tourists were able to see it,” he asserted.
Tuan said VNAT will draw experience from the incident, adding that it will work with Vietnam Airlines to clarify the responsibilities of relevant individuals.
Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines CEO Pham Ngoc Minh also confirmed with Tuoi Tre that the incident occurred before the IBT kicked off.
However, many tourism companies attending the fair said the photo in question was taken when the fair was already open. The banner of the Chinese landscape was put in front of the booth of Furama resort and Asiatica Travel, they said.
The photo has sent several international tourists to the booth and asked for information about travel package in China.
The Vietnamese later had to cover the photo with a Vietnamese map.
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