Detailed tourism reform needed

HÀ NỘI — A “very detailed” restructuring plan is needed to resolve prominent problems in the tourism sector, says Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam.

In a Thursday meeting with Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, General Director, National Administration of Tourism and other stakeholders, Đam also said that the plan should focus on measures to develop commercial and agricultural products as tourist souvenirs.

Vietstar Airlines Deputy General Director Lương Hoài Nam agreed that tourism products, not just souvenirs, will have to play a key role in restructuring the tourism industry.

Apart from souvenirs, Việt Nam was seriously short of tourist attractions like interesting museums or amusement parks, he said

He also stressed the need to “expand and improve the quality” of existing tourism products.

Tuấn noted at the meeting that the growth in the inbound tourist market was not balanced, with neighbouring countries and regions accounting for a disproportionate number of visitors. Tourists from Northeast Asia account for about 55 per cent of total inbound visitors and those from Southeast Asia make up 16 per cent.

Tourists from markets farther away remain minimal so far, Tuấn said.

He also said that apart from underdeveloped transport infrastructure, the quality of tourism workers was another issue.

“Nearly half of the workers in the industry don’t receive any training. Those who have college degrees account for just 7.4 per cent,” Tuấn said.

Deputy PM Đam agreed that the tourism industry was facing a lot of challenges now and needed a restructuring boost to develop sustainably.

“The restructuring should first begin with tourism products, then move to inbound markets, labour quality, and investment in infrastructure,” he said.

He asked the National Administration of Tourism to map out a detailed timeline and development plan for key tourist destinations, as well as a transparent plan on spending of the State budget’s allocation for the sector that shows “who will be in charge of what.” — Lê Văn