Attending the Roadshow were Mr. Luu Xuan Dong - Consul General of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Frankfurt; along with delegates, guests, travel and aviation businesses, German and European press.

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh: the Vietnam Tourism Roadshow in Germany shows the efforts in promoting Vietnam - Germany diplomatic relations to further develop (Photo: VNAT)

Speaking at the event, VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh said, the event demonstrates the efforts and determination of Vietnamese and German authorities, enterprises in promoting the further development of relations between the two countries. The official diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany was established on 23rd September 1975, establishing a strategic partnership in 2011 and are looking forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025. In the context of integration, both countries have significant potential to complement each other in cooperation and development, especially in the field of tourism.

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh indicated, Germany is one of traditional and leading important source markets for Vietnamese tourism in Europe. In 2023, Vietnam's tourism received over 200 thousand German visitor arrivals, achieving a recovery rate of 88% compared to the pre-COVID-19 period (226.8 thousand visitor arrivals), ranking third among the largest tourist source markets of Vietnam in the European Union.

Overview of the event (Photo: VNAT)

In recent times, the tourism sectors of the two countries have engaged in many cooperative activities to facilitate tourist exchange, such as in June 2023, when the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam allowed Hue Tourism College to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the F+U Educational Group (Germany) to exchange in the fields of high-quality vocational training, exchange of experts, training instructors, organisation of German language courses, exchange, and publication of information related to tourism and hospitality, exchange of information and experiences.

Vietnam Airlines has launched direct flights connecting major cities and tourism centres of the two countries. Vietnam's tourism sector actively organises tourism promotion activities in Germany, such as organising famtrips, tourism introduction programmes, participating in the ITB Berlin International Tourism Fair, and other activities to boost tourist exchanges between the two nations. Vietnam’s government has exempted visas for German citizens travelling to Vietnam since 2015 and extended the stay duration for German tourists to 45 days from 15th August 2023.

To restore and develop tourism activities after the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam and Germany have organised many tourism activities and events to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. “The Vietnam Tourism Roadshow in Germany today is a good opportunity for Vietnamese and German tourism companies to share update information and move towards business cooperation, enhancing tourism exchange between Vietnam and Germany in the post-COVID-19 recovery context, preparing for a new phase of stronger development”, affirmed VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh.

Delegates enjoying traditional cultural art performance of Vietnam (Photo: VNAT)

According to Mr. Nguyen Quy Phuong, Head of Tourism Promotion Management Division (VNAT), besides traditional and mainstream products such as Sea and Island tourism, cultural tourism, and city break tourism, Vietnam is focusing on promoting the development of new product lines such as golf tourism, culinary tourism, wellness tourism, adventure tourism…

Among them, agricultural tourism, community tourism, eco-tourism, craft villages, unique cultural festivals, and cuisine with famous Vietnamese dishes are incredibly popular with international tourists. Many destinations and tourism products of Vietnam have also been repeatedly praised by reputable tourism consulting and evaluation organisations and websites, ranked among the top in the world and region.

At the Roadshow, delegates, guests, businesses and German and European partners discussed and expressed interest in attractive destinations, products and services of Vietnam Tourism. Delegates also said that open visa policy, convenient flight routes, and products suitable to demands and tastes are factors that attract German tourists to Vietnam.

Delegates also participated in the lucky draw program with attractive gifts and enjoyed a performance programme promoting Vietnam's unique traditional culture and arts by artists from the Vietnam Song, Dance and Music Theater Troupe.

Previously, on the same day, the Vietnam - Germany business connection programme took place.

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