On October 19 (local time), the signing ceremony of the "action program in the tourism sector" and a bilateral meeting took place between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia.
Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism signed a tourism action program with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Tourism - Photo: V.HUNG
The program took place within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh 's visit to Saudi Arabia and participation in the ASEAN - GCC Summit. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung had a bilateral meeting with Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud, Deputy Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia.
Many action programs connect Halal market
Under its Vision 2030 program, Saudi Arabia aims to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its economy, society and culture. The country aims to attract 100 million tourists, making tourism the country's second-largest source of revenue - second only to oil.
Since September 2019, when tourist visas were introduced, Saudi Arabia has earned $49.3 billion from the industry and welcomed 90 million visitors in 2022.
The signing of the "Action Program in the field of tourism" was made with the aim of "ambition" to promote tourism cooperation between the two countries in a practical and positive manner.
Accordingly, the program proposes measures for the two countries to increase exchanges, share information, experience, and statistics on the Halal market, tourist demand, develop and train tourism human resources; organize joint tourism promotion events; seek tourism investment opportunities, etc.
At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that Vietnam has a rich tradition and culture with many cultural and historical relics honored by UNESCO, many beautiful landscapes...
To promote tourism, the Vietnamese Government has issued a decision approving the project "Enhancing international cooperation to build and develop Vietnam's Halal industry by 2030".
This is the first project to provide major national orientations to open up the Halal market. In which tourism is one of the priority areas with Saudi Arabia as one of the key partners and markets.
To implement the recently signed action program, Mr. Hung said he will proactively work with major Vietnamese travel and tourism corporations to research and plan to build tourism products targeting Saudi Arabian tourists.
The Minister suggested that the Saudi side support Vietnam in learning about tourist tastes and the Halal market, building standards and regulations on Halal tourism ... through technology transfer. Introduce famous Saudi Arabian brands to survey, invest and operate in Vietnam in the fields of accommodation facilities, tourism investment...
Expectations of establishing direct flights and visa exemption for tourists
Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud affirmed the determination to take action to promote tourism cooperation. Saudi Arabia is currently considering issuing electronic visas to tourists from Vietnam. At the same time, the Ministry of Tourism will work with domestic travel and tourism companies to research and develop product packages suitable to the tastes of Vietnamese tourists.
The princess also said that with the desire to promote tourism exchange with Vietnam through air routes in the near future, Saudi Arabia hopes to soon establish a direct flight route between the two countries.
Regarding this issue, Mr. Dang Ngoc Hoa - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines, affirmed that in the near future, Vietnam Airlines and Saudi Airlines will deploy flights with the same booking code, thereby moving towards opening a direct flight route between the two countries.
According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung - Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietjet Aviation Company - with a market of more than 34 million people in Saudi Arabia and 100 million people in Vietnam, the potential for tourism and air transport between the two countries is huge; even opening up opportunities to access the ASEAN market and the Asian region.
Saudi Arabia's Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Al-Duaile emphasized that the relationship between the two countries is growing in many areas, including investment. Regarding visas for citizens of the two countries, Saudi Arabia has sent Vietnamese authorities a draft visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders.
Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Duaile believes that once signed, the agreement will create momentum for the two countries to consider the possibility of bilateral visa exemption for tourists from both sides.
Tuoitre.vn
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