ACC Organized Tourism Seminar on China-Ready in Ho Chi Minh City

On 7 September 2017, through working closely with Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism (HCMC DOT), ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) held Tourism Seminar on China-Ready in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. ACC Secretary-General H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Vice Chairman of VNAT, Mr. La Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of HCMC DOT, Mr. Wang Zhengbao, ChineseConsul in Ho Chi Minh City, and more than 100 officials and representatives from Viet Nam tourism industries and relevant fields attended. 

Secretary-General Yang said in her remarks that ASEAN and China are close neighbours and good development partners connected by mountains and rivers. Since the establishment of dialogue relations in 1991, ASEAN-China relations had forged an all-dimensional, multi-tiered and wide-ranging cooperation framework and become the most dynamic and profound relationship that ASEAN has with its dialogue partners. Tourism cooperation had long been the bright spot of ASEAN-China relations, which had played an important role in promoting economic and social development, improving people's living standards and enhancing people's friendly relations. Echoing the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation, ASEAN and China has been carrying out a series of colorful activities so as to inject new strong impetus in deepening tourism cooperation and open up a broader space for it. 

Secretary-General Yang said that with the rapid growth of tourist exchanges, both ASEAN and China need to train more high-quality tourism practitioners and continuously enhance the ability and level of tourist hospitality to provide better services to the tourists. She hoped that the seminar would help the tourism industry from Viet Nam to deepen their understanding of China’s outbound tourism market and Chinese tourists, better promote China-Viet Nam tourism cooperation and achieve common development.

Mr. Ha Van Sieu cited the important role of ACC in promoting friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, and expressed his heartfelt thanks to ACC for the preparation for this seminar. He said that China has become the most important inbound tourist market in Viet Nam. To better meet the needs of Chinese tourists and attract more Chinese tourists has become one of the important targets of Viet Nam tourism industry development. The seminar was timely and of great benefit for Vietnamese tourism institutions to better understand the lifestyle  and needs of Chinese tourists. VNAT would continue to strengthen communication with ACC and provide support for the enterprises from Viet Nam and China to strengthen the coordination and cooperation, and effectively upgrade the level of tourism services provided by Viet Nam to attract more Chinese tourists. 

Professor Zhang Hailin and Professor Xie Yuanbo coming from Guilin Tourism University respectively made special lectures with the theme “China Outbound Tourism Overview” and “Chinese Tourists Characteristics and Trends”, and interacted with the participants. The representatives from other two Viet Nam tourism enterprises shared the successful experiences and difficulties in cooperation with Chinese enterprises, developing China's tourism market and the reception of Chinese tourists. The interaction was active and in a warm atmosphere.