Vietnam turns into a new rendezvous for tourists from Andhra, Telangana

• Vietnam has a lot to offer tourists, including Buddhist temples, historic cities, coastal towns, rocky islands, marble mountains, among others

• There is a need for direct flights from Hyd and Vizag to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Visakhapatnam: ‘Vietnam-timeless charm’ - the tagline being showcased by the authorities as part of the resolve for an aggressive campaign after successfully putting the spread of Covid-19 under control -seems to have been yielding rich dividends.

On an average, post-pandemic, the number of tourists from Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is slowly increasing. According to a conservative estimate, around 1,000 tourists in both budget and luxury segments are flying to Vietnam for spending at least a six-nights through various travel agencies. During a recent visit, AP Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath called on representatives of the trade and commerce and Vietnam Deputy Minister for Planning and Investment Do Thanh Trung on the scope to explore various investment proposals.

Various provinces in Vietnam have taken up promotion programmes to a Buddhist ultra-modern resort developed at the hill station of Dalat, historic Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and its famed temples and opera house, capital city of Hanoi, coastal city of Hoi An, rocky islands and junk boats in HaLong Bay, marble mountains of Da Nang, citadel and imperial city of Hue and the Mekong River Delta, sand from which was used to reclaim sea in various countries raising alarm among the green activists. Adventure tourism with a wide spread of water sports and golf courses, people known for their warmth and hospitality, plenty of choice to relish at street food stalls and plenty of options for a fun-filled nightlife are also becoming an added attraction for leisure tourists.

In the first quarter of the calendar year, Vietnam netted $ 6.85 billion from accommodation and food. After the tourism industry suffered a big blow world-wide, Vietnam in 2022 received 3.5 million international tourists and over 100 million domestic tourists with a revenue of $27.39 billion. Vietnam has set a target to handle 35 million international tourists by 2030 with a growth rate of 13 to 15 per cent per annum. The expected rise in domestic tourists by that time is 160 million at a growth rate of 4 to 5 per cent annually. In the first quarter of 2023, Vietnam received 2.69 million tourists achieving 33 per cent of its target of getting eight million international tourists.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Forum and Tours and Travels association of Andhra and FRETA, represented by K Vijay Mohan recently signed two MoUs with Lam Dong Tourism represented by Dinh Thi Phuoc in Vietnam. He told Bizz Buzz on Sunday that there is heavy demand for Buddhist tourism with one of the largest resorts with 300 luxurious rooms ready at Dalat valley. He said a Buddhist Circuit has been developed in Vietnam and they entered into an agreement to develop a Buddhist Circuit in Andhra Pradesh so as to bring tourists from South East Asia to various historic locations linking it to Dhauli of Odisha. Dhauli, located on the bank of the River Daya in Bhubaneswar, which witnessed the Kalinga War, was built by Japan Budhha Sangha and Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangha.

Vijay Mohan said Holiday World and Connect India signed an MoU with Samten Hills Dalat represented by Nguyen Thu Ngoc in the presence of the Indian Consul General Madan Setti, Prams, Chairman of People’s Committee of Lamdong Province, Ton Thi Ngoc Hanh, Chairman of People’s Committee off Daknong Province during the Central Highland Investment Conference on Tourism between Vietnam and India in Dalat this month.

He said for the first time, an Indian organisation has signed an MOU with business entities in the Lamdong provinces and underlined the need for introduction of direct flight from Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to encourage exchange of tourists between Andhra Pradesh-Telangana and Vietnam.