Nghe An Department of Tourism received the Emulation Flag from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Attending the conference were Mr. Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of the Department of Tourism, relevant departments and branches, and representatives of localities and tourism businesses in the province. Photo: Phuoc Anh

Welcome and serve over 6 million tourists

According to the assessment, 2018 was a difficult year for Nghe An tourism when the weather and natural disasters were unusual, storms and floods appeared early, negatively affecting coastal and mountainous tourism activities. However, in 2018, the whole province still welcomed and served over 6 million tourists; including nearly 4.3 million overnight guests, 128,700 international visitors; total revenue from tourists is estimated at 7,410 billion VND.

Last year, tourism business results; planning, investment in infrastructure and tourism product development; information, communication, promotion and tourism promotion work… achieved positive results. However, at the conference, delegates also frankly assessed many limitations and shortcomings.

Comrade Nguyen Manh Cuong - Director of the Department of Tourism spoke at the conference. Photo: Phuoc Anh

Accordingly, tourism growth is unstable; there has not been a breakthrough in product development as well as growth rate. Some new agricultural tourism products have initially taken shape but are affected by seasonality, so they face many difficulties in promotion. Many tourism projects have been registered but the implementation progress is slow.

The effectiveness of promoting the tourist market is still limited, and the inbound tourist market to Nghe An has not been expanded. The shortage of tourism human resources continues to occur, especially in key areas: Vinh and Cua Lo, leading to the quality of human resources at many establishments not meeting the prescribed standards...

Letting customers come once and never come back is the sadness of tourism.

Acknowledging and appreciating the results achieved, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa also said that the province's tourism industry still has a lot of work to do. "For example, in Cua Lo, a tourist city, this season you only see... fallen yellow leaves. We must have many services to attract tourists. That is something to consider in the current context" - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa spoke at the conference. Photo: Phuoc Anh

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa also said that 2019 is the year identified by the Provincial People's Committee as the year of administrative reform, building and perfecting the e-government system, moving towards smart cities, towards smart agriculture, tourism...

“Tourists coming to Nghe An only need to hold a smartphone in their hand to be able to search for destinations, necessary services... and on that basis, we will also manage more effectively. If we have these applications, we will know how many times the visitors have come. I really need the data in the report but I don't see it, which is the data of visitors returning after coming to Nghe An. Letting visitors come once and then leave without coming back is a sadness for the tourism industry. How to make visitors come to stay, come to spend, that is our important task" - the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized.

Authorized by the Provincial People's Committee Vice Chairman Le Ngoc Hoa, he awarded the Emulation Flag of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to the Department of Tourism. Photo: Phuoc Anh

Collectives and individuals received Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, including the Cultural and Social Department - Nghe An Newspaper. Photo: Phuoc Anh

At the conference, authorized by the Provincial People's Committee, Vice Chairman Le Ngoc Hoa awarded the Emulation Flag of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to the Nghe An Department of Tourism; awarded Certificates of Merit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to 9 groups and 3 individuals who had outstanding achievements in building and organizing tourism activities in the locality in 2018, including the Department of Culture and Society - Nghe An Newspaper. 9 groups and 7 individuals also received Certificates of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; many groups and individuals received Certificates of Merit from the Department of Tourism./.