On May 29th, 2013, the second meeting of the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) took place in Hanoi which was convened to discuss about the TAB’s organisational and operational procedures.
In this second meeting, members of the TAB clarified their core functions and duties, provided tourism forecasts for Vietnam, and proposed tourism development orientations on the basis of world tourism trends and the principles of Responsible Tourism (RT), in order to ensure sustainable growth of the sector. The Board also agreed to identify and examine specific problems facing the tourism industry and plans to conduct surveys and evaluations on travel, tourism, hospitality and other relevant activities, as well as provide recommendations on specific and feasible solutions to any identified problems and needs.
Recognising some challenges for tourism in Vietnam, the TAB members debated the feasibility of a more relevant, structured approach to promote Vietnam as a tourist destination, as well as ways to develop and implement the tourism marketing strategy effectively for the country, also the main topic to be discussed in the forthcoming National Marketing Conference, to be held on May 30th, 2013 as a joint collaboration - between Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the ESRT Programme.
Addressing the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, Chairman of VNAT committed that the organisation would try its best to facilitate to the full extent of TAB’s operation, and carefuly consider its feedback regarding the management of VNAT, in order to enhance its professionalism and effectiveness in national tourism management in general, as of VNAT in particular.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Established on November 27th, 2012, the TAB aims to increase Vietnam’s competitive advantage as a sustainable tourism and travel destination by developing and facilitating public – private partnership and public – private dialogue. The Board works to leverage the country’s public and private resources, promote dialogue and information/knowledge sharing between tourism businesses and national tourism organisations, in order to create a cohesive and comprehensive industry strategy.
The TAB consists of more than 20 influential experts in the tourism industry, ranging from the CEOs of hotels, travel agencies, transportation businesses, chairmans of tourism associations, leaders of training institutions, representatives from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and EuroCham, to high ranking officials from the public sector. The TAB provides advice to VNAT to better enable the industry to overcome obstacles in tourism development.