Hanoi (VNA) - Not only focusing on th♓e heritage theme, more than 15,000 vouchers with discounts of up to 50 percent and tens of thousands of attractive gifts will be offered at the Vietnam International Mart (VITM) 2020.

VITM Hanoi 2020 will be held at the Cultural Friendship Palace from April 1-4, focusing on preserving heritage and promoting heritage tourism.

“Heritage – Power of Vietnam Tourism”

With the theme “Heritage – Power of Vietnam Tourism”, the biggest annual event of national tourism will be held by the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA), and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism.

In the eighth edition, theꦿ event will be coincided with the 60t♍h anniversary of the establishment of the tourism industry.

The organisers said the sale of tourism products during the fairs has increased strongly both in terms of quality and quantity over the past years. This year, more than 100,000 cheap air tickets, 18,000 tour packages, 15,000 vouchers with discounts of up to 50 percent and tens of thousands of gifts will be offered at VITM Hanoi 2020.

Vu The Binh, Vice Chairman of the VITA, explained at a recent press conference that heritage is the most important resource of Vietnamese tourism, the key factor to lure dome𝔉stic and international tourists.

In fact, the abundance and attractiveness of Vietnamese cultural heritages, especially world and national cultural heritages, are the foundations for the country to draw domestic and international tourists. However, many heritages across the country have been downgraded due to weather conditions, history and overexploitation. Meanwhile, the amount of state funding reserved for the restoration and preservation of heritages remains limited. The VITA selected “Heritage – Power of Vietnam Tourism” as the main theme of the VITM Hanoi 2020 with the aim of enhancing travel companies’ awareness of the role of heritages in the future development of Vietnam’s tourism sector.

According to Binh, the VITM will include photo exhibitions and workshops on this field to raise people’s awareness and promote heritage tourism.

Following the success of the last show in 2019 with over 85,000 visitors, 505 booths and 720 exhibitors from 27 countries and territories, VITM 2020 will be back impressively.

Binh revealed that the event will have the participation of businesses, agencies, tourism promotion agencies from 45 provinces and cities nationwide. Until now, enterprises fro▨m 17 countries and territories have registered to take part including the Republic of Korea, the US, Australia, Thailand, China, Japan, Philippines, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, UAE, Cuba, and Sri Lanka.

Plentiful range of activities

As usual, the most attractive part of VITM is the tourism stimulus programme. This year, the organising board promised to offer 100,000 cheap tickets, 1‌8,000 package tours, more than 15,000 vouchers with up to 50 percent discount and many other gifts for customers.

As part of the event, the national forum H♉eritage - Developmen꧒t Resources of Vietnam Tourism will be held to discuss cultural heritages’ contributions to tourism and economic development.

As many as 500 delegates from state management agencies, travel companies and tourism training establishments across the country are expected to attend the forum. The organisers hoped that the forum would promote the awareness of state management agencies, travel businesses and tourism training establishments, thus better mobilizing social resources to make the best of heritages to serve the sustainable development of the tourism sector.

Besides, the VITA will hosted a ceremony to honour individuals and travel companies who obtained prominent achievements and made great contributions to the nation’s “non-smoking” industry.

At the seminar Tourism Looks toward the Future, which will be held for the first time, participants will propose eco-friendly tourist products and introduce technological application in tourism development.

Dinh Ngoc Duc, Director of the Market Department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said the sustainable development, heritage preservation and environment protection are remarkable issues to mention at all activities of the VITM.

Tangible and intangible heritage have been the leading resource to Vietnam touꦆrism, he said./.