Responsible tourism is our national priority Responsible tourism is everyone’s business and the industry has the potential to become the cornerstone of the nation’s economy, says the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). “If developed sustainably, the travel industry has the potential to deliver tax revenue and jobs to every province throughout the nation and become a major driver of the economy,” said VNAT Head Nguyen Van Tuan at a recent conference in Ho Chi Minh City. He said last year travellers spent US$15 billion (VND338,000 billion) in Vietnam, and tourism provided jobs for millions of Vietnamese, which in turn generated millions of dollars in tax revenue for the State, provincial and local governments. Additionally, tourism dollars funded cultural programs throughout the country, enriching local communities and the livelihoods of people residing in them. In terms of the number of travellers, Vietnam logged nearly eight million foreign arrivals in 2015, a modest increase of 0.9% compared to 2014, and more than 60 million domestic travellers. “However, despite the statistics pointing to growth in terms of dollars of revenue and number of travellers, the nation is still far from harnessing the industry’s fullest potential,” said Tuan. It continues to lag behind other countries in the Southeast Asian region Tuan pointed out, noting that despite the scourge of terrorism and the bomb attack in Thailand last year, its foreign arrivals surged upwards by 20% in 2015. “In total it is estimated that Thailand recorded 30 million foreign arrivals, just shy of four-fold Vietnam’s eight million figure,” said Tuan. He said to grow the budding tourism industry, Vietnam needs at a minimum a unified marketing effort reaching potential visitors as regularly and effectively as Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia. Despite the nation’s allure – from its natural beauty to the promise of fulfilling dreams – it must be marketed frequently and vigorously to reach potential visitors throughout major markets like the EU and US. “A centralized and unified marketing effort can do for the industry what it cannot do for itself— market the nation’s brand around the globe with a unified, research-driven voice,” said Tuan. Meanwhile, representatives of the tourism industry said traffic congestion was harming Vietnam’s reputation as a travel destination and ruining its image as careless and irresponsible drivers wreak havoc on the nation’s roadways. Crime, including muggings and thefts targeting tourists and street violence, is also tarnishing Vietnam’s image and it is getting a repute for total insecurity and lawlessness, they underscored. In addition, poor food hygiene and lack of adequate sanitation are a major obstacle damaging the industry they said, suggesting that Vietnam should embark on a national project to ensure food safety and sanitary standards are comprehensive throughout the country. They proposed the project should be initiated in the high tourist areas and gradually expanded across the country. Last of all, beggars damage the image of the nation as they are often one of the first sights that tourists see and new laws should be affirmed that are aimed at reducing panhandling. Still others pointed to the lack of professional tour guides and the damage unprofessional guides that cannot speak foreign languages causes. There was general agreement of those at the conference that tourism in Vietnam is still in its infancy and a clearer national tourism strategy with well-defined goals is needed if it is too blossom. Most importantly, there needs to be an enhanced general awareness among the people of the nation that everyone benefits from tourism and they all need to work together to contribute to the industry as part of a collective national responsibility. VOV