Overview of the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Ms. Kim Gyeong Hee - Chairwoman of the Hwaseong City Council stated, Gyeonggi Province is located in the southwest of Korea, bordering the capital Seoul and the city of Incheon. Hwaseong is a city in Gyeonggi Province, with the second largest area in Korea, only after Seoul. Hwaseong owns beautiful beaches and unique and different tourist attractions such as Hwaseong Castle recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, Hwaseong Palace,  Everland Tourist Area, Nami Island, Bukhansan Mountain, Korean Folk Village, DMZ Demilitarized Zone in the border area between South Korea and North Korea. The province also has many rural tourist areas such as Hwaseong Haenggung, Yangpyeong, Yangju Jeongok-ri Prehistoric Site.

In particular, Hwaseong is also a sister city with Phu Tho Province (Northern Midland Region of Vietnam), therefore, Ms. Kim Gyeong Hee hopes that in the near future the exchange and cooperation relationships with other provinces and cities of Vietnam will be expanded. At the same time, she expresses her desire to attend culture and tourism programmes and events such as festivals, fairs, roadshows, conferences, seminars to promote tourism introduction… Ms. Kim Gyeong Hee further affirmed that Hwaseong will always accompany and fully support in spreading and promoting the image of Vietnamese tourism to Korean people as well as tourists around the world.

Ms. Kim Gyeong Hee - Chairwoman of the Hwaseong City Council and the delegation (Photo: TITC)

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh stated, tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Korea in general and localities and tourism businesses of the two countries in particular is taking place vibrantly in accordance with the spirit of comprehensive strategic partnership that the two sides have established.

In recent times, VNAT has welcomed a number of Korean delegations to visit and work to explore investment cooperation opportunities. At the same time, Vietnamese ministries, branches and localities also organise visits to Korea to promote bilateral development cooperation. In the near future, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam will organise the Vietnam Cultural Tourism Festival in Korea in 2023 in Seoul and Suwon.

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh at the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Regarding the current status of Vietnam tourism, VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh stated, in the period from 2015 to 2019, Vietnam tourism developed strongly. In 2019, Vietnam welcomed over 18 million international visitor arrivals, serving 85 million domestic visitor trips; Total tourism receipts reached about VND755 trillion, contributing 9.2% of the country's GDP. The growth rate of international visitors in the period 2015 - 2019 reached 22.8%, ranking in the top 10 countries with the fastest growth rate.

Before the pandemic, Korean visitors to Vietnam ranked the second with 4.3 million arrivals. In the first 9 months of 2023, the Korean tourist market has taken the number 1 position among foreign tourist markets to Vietnam with nearly 2.6 million arrivals. The number of Korean restaurants as well as the Korean community living and working in Vietnam is increasing rapidly; the number of Vietnamese people living and working in Korea is about the same. Vietnam and Korea are also two countries with similarities in culture, interests, tastes…

Post the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese Government decided to restore tourism activities fully from 15th March 2023. Vietnam is one of the few countries in Southeast Asia to restore tourism the earliest and create favourable conditions for foreigners to come to Vietnam and Vietnamese people to travel abroad. In addition, the Government also encourages tourism businesses to promote market and aviation connections, build new tourism products to meet tourist demands, and implement tourism promotion…

In 2023, the Government continues to take measures to overcome difficulties, promulgate open policies as well as encourage the restoration of domestic and international flights and open new routes. In particular, the Government has issued a new visa policy to create conditions for international visitors to Vietnam. From 15th August 2023, implement electronic visas for citizens of all countries and territories; Extend the electronic visa duration from 30 days to 90 days, valid for multiple entries. The temporary stay duration for citizens of countries with unilateral visa exemption from Vietnam has been extended to 45 days, including for South Korean citizens.

Leaders of both sides exchanging souvenir (Photo: TITC)

In the first 9 months of 2023, Vietnam welcomed 8.9 million international arrivals; served 93.5 million domestic visitor trips. To achieve the new goal of welcoming 12 to 13 million international visitor arrivals, in the coming time, the tourism industry will organise many promotional programmes and activities to promote Vietnam tourism abroad, including the Northeast Asian market.

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh hopes that with the foundation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Korea, tourism cooperation between the two countries will continue to grow stronger.

Leaders and delegates of both sides taking souvenir photo (Photo: TITC)

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