Hanoi (VNA) -🃏 There were less than half of the stalls participating, yet the VITM Hanoi 2020 still stimulated demands with various tours and air tickets offered at prices from 30 to 40 percent lower than the regular, with special attention paid to the upgrade of service quality.

There are only 250 stall, or a decrease of more than 50 percent, yet the Vietnam International Tourism Mart Hanoi 2020 (VITM 2020) will still be held, a manifestation of the determination for recovery after the COVID-19, and rapid development to turn tourism into a spearhead economic sector. So said Vu The Binh, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, head of the organising board of the VITM 2020, at a press briefing on the event following repeated delays as a result of the pandemic. He elaborated that the event will be held from November 18 -21 at the Friendship – Culture Palace in Hanoi. The board further said the event will see the participation of more than 300 travel firms, aviation operators, service providers, representatives of state management authorities on tourism, tourism promotion centres, tourism associations of 47 provinces and cities nationwide, and six countries and territory (Thailand, Peru, Japan, republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Colombia). Indispensible among the VITMs are demand stimulation packages, and discount tours and air tickets. According to firms, despite the crisis caused by the pandemic and many other difficulties, they still continue offering attractive stimulation packages, including those with prices from 30 to 40 percent lower than the regular, with attention paid to the upgrade of the quality of the services. With the theme of digital transformation to develop Vietnam’s tourism, the sector will demonstrate a pioneer step in digital transformation, making an important contribution to the development of the digital economic sector of the country and helping it develop strongly again after the pandemic. At the mart, firms will have exclusive spaces to popularise prgrammes, software and apps of digital transformation for travel companies. The Vietnam Tourism Association has selected and introduced a number of Vietnamese firms that have done the work such as Hahalolo, Luxstay, Gotadi, Plus, Toan Dung Media, etc. Before the official opening, the association held a forum on digital transformation to develop tourism for state management offices and firms of tourism to exchange experiences, development trends and initiatives in tourism development in association with IT application. Within the framework of this year’s edition, the organising board will continue holding a ceremony to honour outstanding individuals and collectives with important contributions to tourism of the Vietnam Tourism Association 2019 (VITA Awards). For the first time, honourees will include journalists. On November 20, a conference will be held to help build criteria for Vietnamese chefs. Participants will hear reports on the work, discuss, perfect and pass the criteria. Later on, the association will ask the education section and the Vietnam Chefs’ Association to join tourism training establishments in building and implementing the plan on rating Vietnamese chefs. Another important content of the 2020 mart is the programme with the theme of “Alliance – strength of Vietnam’s tourism”, to be held by the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Department and Tourism Association, in coordination with the Vietnam Travel Association, the Da Nang Tourism Association, and a number of other tourism association. This can be described as a chance for tourism firms throughout the country to meet, exchange ideas, and join hands to develop and work out initiatives so as to revive tourism after the pandemic for the future development of Vietnam’s tourism./.