The office is established and managed by Vietnam’s tourism ambassador to the RoK, Ly Xuong Can, whose Korean name is Lee Chan Kun. He is the 31st generation descendant of King Ly Thai To – the first king of the Ly dynasty (1010-1225) – and the 26th generation descendant of Prince Ly Long Tuong, who immigrated to the RoK in the 13th century.
Addressing the event, a representative of the RoK Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that, over the last year the tourism sectors of Vietnam and the RoK served around 3.9 million arrivals of tourists from each other’s country, a four-fold increase over the previous five years. The number of Vietnamese travelers to the RoK is increasing rapidly and is leading in the Southeast Asian region, whereas the number of RoK visitors to Vietnam is also rising annually. The presence of Vietnam’s tourism promotion office in the RoK will help to further step up cooperation between the two countries.
In his speech, Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien noted that the number of RoK tourists travelling to Vietnam is growing sharply, reporting a year-on-year increase of 45% last year and an estimated 25% rise in the first half of 2019 – the fastest rate among the groups of foreign visitors to Vietnam. He attributed the positive result to the efforts made by the entire tourism sector, including Vietnamese individuals and organisations in the RoK.
Ly Xuong Can was appointed as Vietnam’s tourism ambassador to the RoK for 2017-2020 by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2017. From then until February 2019, by his own efforts, Ly Xuong Can mobilised support from individuals and organisations so that Vietnam’s tourism promotion office could get its licence and officially start operation from June 2019. Via the office, RoK tourists will have a trusted address to explore information about Vietnamese tourism. The office will also act as a venue to kick-start programmes to advertise Vietnamese tourism in the RoK.
