Opening of the Workshop 'Vietnam Tourism - Recovery and Development' in Nghe An

Comrade Tran Thanh Man - Politburo member, Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly attended and directed the workshop.

Attending the thematic session, on the part of leaders of the National Assembly agencies, ministries, central departments, branches, provinces and cities, there were comrades: Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education; Le Quang Huy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment; Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An Province, Chairman of the People's Council of Nghe An Province; Nguyen Minh Vu - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs;...

On the side of the Organizing Committee of the conference, there were comrades: Ta Van Ha - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, Head of the Organizing Committee; Doan Van Viet - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee; Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee.

Delegates attending the workshop. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The workshop was attended by nearly 200 delegates representing scientists, managers, experts, businesses, associations, and organizations operating in the field of domestic and international tourism directly in Nghe An and on online platforms. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the workshop was held in person in Cua Lo town - a major tourist center of Nghe An; at the same time, connecting online with 19 bridges in key tourism provinces across the country, broadcasting live on online platforms. The workshop took place over 1 day, including 2 sessions: Thematic and plenary.

The 2021 Tourism Conference is held in the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had many negative impacts on all aspects of economic and social life worldwide. In particular, tourism is one of the most severely affected sectors.

In Vietnam, the tourism industry has received special attention from the Party and the State, issuing many policies and guidelines to orient its development to become a key economic sector. After 30 years of innovation, the tourism industry has developed rapidly in both scale and quality. The number of tourism businesses and the system of tourist accommodation facilities are increasingly growing. Tourism infrastructure has received investment attention from the State and society.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education delivered the opening speech at the workshop. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Vietnam has become an attractive destination in the world. International and domestic tourists and tourism revenue have continuously grown at a high rate, contributing greatly to the country's GDP growth. Tourism has contributed to promoting the image and affirming Vietnam's position in the process of development and international integration.

With the position, role, potential and advantages of the industry, the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, Resolution 08-NQ/TW of the Politburo and the Strategy for Vietnam's tourism development to 2030 have set great expectations for the tourism industry.

However, in the past 2 years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam tourism has faced unprecedented difficulties. The tourism market and tourism activities have been disrupted and stagnant, causing the entire industry to fail to achieve its targets and deviate from its growth trajectory.

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic being gradually controlled, the tourism industry as well as the national economy are gradually overcoming the difficult period. However, the path to tourism recovery, flexible adaptation, and safety to the pandemic still has many difficulties and challenges.

Recently, the National Assembly held the "Vietnam Economic Forum 2021", discussing policies for sustainable economic and social recovery and development. Following the success of the Vietnam Economic Forum 2021 and other seminars on tourism in recent times, the Tourism Conference 2021 was jointly organized by the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nghe An province and central and local ministries, branches, and localities to discuss and clarify policies to support tourism, an important sector with great influence in the process of economic and social recovery after the pandemic.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education emphasized: The workshop will provide a more comprehensive and comprehensive picture of the current situation of world and Vietnamese tourism under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese tourism; discuss viewpoints, orientations, and solutions to restore and develop tourism in the coming time.

On that basis, proposals and recommendations to the National Assembly and the Government for timely solutions to remove difficulties and decide on breakthrough policies to restore and develop tourism, in conjunction with the Socio-Economic Recovery and Development Program will be commented on by competent authorities in the coming time.

Comrade Doan Van Viet - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee presented the content on orientation and solutions for tourism recovery and development. Photo: Thanh Cuong

At the same time, through the Workshop, the Organizing Committee hopes that valuable experiences from countries around the world, localities and businesses will be shared and spread, promoting the recovery and development of Vietnam's tourism to take place more quickly and sustainably.

At the thematic session this morning, the Workshop listened to representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism discuss orientations and solutions for tourism recovery and development; leaders of the World Travel and Tourism Council informed about trends and world experiences in overcoming the Covid-19 crisis to develop tourism.

Representatives from tourism businesses and some provinces and cities in the country will also give speeches. Next, under the direction of senior expert Vo Tri Thanh, the workshop will proceed to a roundtable discussion.

Delegates discussed enthusiastically at the workshop. Photo: Thanh Cuong

At the Special Session, in addition to listening to reports from central ministries and branches, the delegates attending the workshop listened to the opinions and discussions of local leaders, experts and businesses on policies, solutions for tourism recovery and development, trends and world experiences in overcoming the Covid-19 crisis to develop tourism. In particular, the interactive organization method between speakers and delegates brought about very profound opinions to contribute to the recovery and development of the tourism industry.

Delegates participating in the discussion. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In his closing remarks at the Special Session, Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung - senior expert, former Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office emphasized that through all opinions, everyone agreed that tourism plays a very important role in our country's economy, helping to preserve cultural and natural heritages.

Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung delivered a closing speech at the Special Session. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung also summarized 5 groups of solutions to develop tourism in the coming time, including: Reopening tourism activities while ensuring safety; supporting the recovery of businesses and workers in the tourism sector; innovating policies to increase resources for businesses; developing tourism infrastructure, attracting resources, innovating products and promoting tourism advantages; and finally, a group of solutions on institutions, institutional reform, and administrative reform to create a more favorable environment.

Overview of the workshop 'Vietnam Tourism - Recovery and Development' in Nghe An. Photo: Thanh Cuong

This afternoon, the conference “Vietnam Tourism - Recovery and Development” will hold a plenary session. Leaders of the National Assembly, Government, World Tourism Organization and Nghe An province will speak at this event.