Many Italian travel businesses are interested in Vietnam tourism.

Recently, in Milan, the Vietnam National Tourism Administration coordinated with the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy to organize a program to introduce Vietnamese tourism.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung speaks at a program introducing Vietnamese tourism. (Source: VNA)

The event, which took place on the evening of June 27, was attended by local officials such as Ms. Alessandra Priante, Director of the Italian National Tourism Agency (ENIT) and Mr. Raffaele Cattaneo, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Lombardi region, along with many representatives of travel businesses, tourism associations, hotels, airlines and the press from Italy and Vietnam.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, emphasized that over the past 50 years, since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Italy and Vietnam have become special partners, with great potential to complement each other in cooperation and development, especially in the field of tourism.

Vietnam is a country rich in natural and cultural potential, with many unique and novel tourism products and many advantages for tourism development.

Agricultural tourism, community tourism based on nature and cultural experiences, traditional craft village culture, unique cultural festivals, famous Vietnamese dishes such as pho, nem, bun cha, banh mi are all very popular with international tourists.

Italy is a traditional and leading market for Vietnamese tourism in Europe. In 2023, Vietnam will welcome about 57,000 Italian visitors, achieving a recovery rate of over 80% compared to the pre-Covid-19 period.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh assessed that the Vietnam Tourism Roadshow in Italy is a good opportunity for tourism businesses of the two countries to share updated information, towards business cooperation, enhancing tourism exchange, preparing for a new stage of stronger development.

Convenient direct flights, simple immigration procedures, attractive destinations and tourism products, and warm hospitality of the people are ideal conditions to promote tourism development between the two countries.

Delegates and guests attending the program introducing Vietnam tourism. (Source: VNA)

For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung affirmed that Italy is the third largest economy in the European Union (EU) and a potential tourist market for Vietnam.

The two countries have just celebrated the 50th anniversary of establishing bilateral diplomatic relations (2023), demonstrating the long-standing friendly cooperation and a good foundation for cultural, economic and tourism cooperation.

The Embassy has carried out many activities to promote cooperation and tourism in localities in Italy, which have been welcomed and supported, such as printing photos promoting Vietnamese tourism on the tram in Milan, Ferrari cars in Macerata, giving books, movies, and ceramic vases.

The Ambassador highly appreciated the cooperation between Italy, as well as the Lombardy region, with Vietnam in recent times and emphasized the need for a direct flight connecting Italy and Vietnam.

In his speech, Mr. Raffaele Cattaneo affirmed the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, introducing Italy in general and Milan in particular as a center of cultural and commercial activities, famous for its cuisine and fashion.

Ms. Alessandra Priante commented that Vietnamese tourism is a "rising star" in Italy and expressed her desire to increase the number of tourists between the two countries.

She also shared the difficulties in human resources in the tourism industry after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms. Alessandra Priante, Director of the Italian National Tourism Agency (ENIT) speaking at the program introducing Vietnam tourism. (Source: VNA)

The special performance program performed by artists of the Vietnam Music, Dance and Singing Theater brought to the attendees a traditional cultural and artistic feast, imbued with the identity of the Vietnamese ethnic groups.

At the event, Italian travel businesses expressed their interest and asked many questions to better understand tourism policies and incentives in Vietnam.

Mr. Giordano Nobile, President of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (Fiavet) of Lombardy region, said: “We have had a program of activities in Vietnam, so this event is an important opportunity for all of us to contact and exchange directly with Vietnamese operators and businesses.

We will focus on further deepening our cooperation with tourism partners as well as with the Vietnamese Embassy to bring more and more tourists to visit your beautiful and attractive destinations."

President of the Turismi.Ai Association, Mr. Eduardo Comlombo, expressed: "We are really interested in developing international relations, including with Vietnamese partners.

Through that, we can exchange and find valuable experiences and superior products to expand cooperation and application to promote sustainable tourism and smart destinations."

Meanwhile, Mr. Luca Carminati, Director of Greenmarketing Company, commented: "This is a very favorable opportunity for businesses of the two countries to meet and learn about opportunities in each other's markets. For us, today's wonderful event has brought new information, helping us discover many attractive aspects of Vietnam.

Mr. Raffaele Cattaneo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lombardy Region, speaks at the program introducing Vietnam tourism. (Source: VNA)

Through this initiative, with the growing public interest, I believe that the activities of Italian travel agencies to Vietnam as well as Vietnamese partners to Italy will grow stronger and stronger."

Regarding the goal of attending the program to introduce Vietnamese tourism in Italy, Ms. Le Y Linh, Director of Vietravel's office in France, said: "We want to approach professionals and tourism businesses in Italy, because the Italian market is very important to Vietravel.

Each market has its own characteristics in terms of customers, language, culture, history and relations with Vietnam, so it is very important to approach Italian professionals. Creating trustworthy relationships in a market is very important.

Doing tourism is not just about quality and price, but brand reputation is a factor that needs to be maintained in the long term."

Within the framework of the Program to introduce Vietnamese Tourism in Italy, Director Nguyen Trung Khanh had a meeting and worked with Ms. Alessandra Priante, Director of the Italian National Tourism Agency (ENIT) and Mr. Raffaele Cattaneo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lombardy region, with the participation of Ambassador Duong Hai Hung and leaders of units under the Vietnam National Tourism Administration and the Lombardy region.

At the meeting, the two sides affirmed the need to strengthen tourism cooperation between the two countries in the coming time, proposed that the two governments consider signing a bilateral tourism cooperation agreement in the new period and agreed to propose that the leaders of the two countries promote the early opening of direct flights from Vietnam to Italy, contributing to strengthening economic and tourism cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides also pledged to strengthen connectivity, support information exchange and tourism promotion activities between the two countries in the coming time.

The program to introduce Vietnamese tourism in Italy is part of a series of activities to promote Vietnamese tourism in Europe, including France and Germany.

Exchanges between businesses of the two countries. (Source: VNA)

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nhieu-doanh-nghiep-lu-hanh-italy-quan-tam-toi-du-lich-viet-nam-276778.html