On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and India, the Embassy of Viet Nam in India, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam, and the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the Vietnam Tourism Forum in India on December 14, 2022.
The forum prioritized the promotion of Viet Nam as a new destination for Indian travelers with a focus on high-end and golf tourism and wedding, conference and filming destinations.
H.E. Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Hai emphasized that the forum was also an opportunity for Vietnamese service providers to understand more about Indian tourists’ demands so as to prepare customized products for the Indian market. Talking about the growing number of Vietnamese tourists visiting India, the Ambassador said, ” India has been a very popular religious destination for Vietnamese, especially among Buddhism believers for a long. Now, I see that India is also a rising destination for Vietnamese tourists to enjoy interesting activities such as adventures, meditation and yoga in many other places. Leh-Laddak, Kashmir, Jaipur, Rishikesh…are becoming the talk of the town in many tourist groups in Viet Nam.
In 2022, Viet Nam’s tourism continued to be honored with many prestigious awards from the World Tourism Awards such as the third time for the World’s Leading Heritage Destination, the fourth time for Asia’s Leading Destination, the second time for Asia’s Leading Nature Destination, the second time for Vietnam National Administration of Tourism – Asia’s Leading Tourism Management Agency; the fifth time for the Best Golf Destination in Asia and many prestigious regional and world awards for localities, hotels, resorts, tourist attractions, restaurants, travel companies, airlines in Viet Nam, Mr. Hoang Dao Cuong, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism shared.
In the first 11 months of 2022, Indian visitors to Viet Nam reached over 109,000, entering the top 5 leading customer markets of Viet Nam. The average growth rate of visitors is 49% per month. Although this year’s data is still smaller than 2019 one (170000 Indian tourists, an increase of 28% compared to 2018), it is noteworthy that the two countries were reopened for tourists in Q2 and direct flights resumed from May 2022 onward only.
In just a short time, the air connection between Viet Nam and India has developed strongly and become the catalyst for the increasing flow of passengers thanks to Vietjet Air, Indigo, and Vietnam Airlines, who opened dozens of new routes connecting most major cities of Viet Nam and India, Mr. Pham Van Thuy, Deputy Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism emphasized. He also expected the number of exchange tourists between Vietnam and India to reach 500,000 by 2025.
