More than 10 Indonesian travel agents met with some 40 Vietnamese tour operators from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to introduce tourism packages and tourist attractions and to seek cooperation opportunities.

A representative from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) was present at the event and lauded cooperation prospects between the two countries.

Vietnamese stalls in PATA Travel Mart 2016 held by Indonesia

Suryana Satradiredja, Indonesia’s Acting Ambassador to Vietnam, said that Indonesia wants to cooperate with Vietnamese travel companies, management agencies and media to lure more tourists to the country. Furthermore, Indonesia and Vietnam have huge opportunities to boost tourism cooperation as the numbers of vacationers are still low when compared with their respective populations. 

Last year, only 69,653 Indonesian tourists visited Vietnam and about 50,000 Vietnamese holidaymakers toured Indonesia.

The Acting Amassadoor added that further tourism opportunities will be available for Vietnam and Indonesia thanks to increasing wealth in both countries, coupled with the launch of direct flights and the possibility of signing tourism cooperation agreements between the two nations. 

Indonesia is the world’s largest island country with 17,000 islands. Bali and Yogjakarta are among the most popular destinations.

On the occasion, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism highlighted 10 major destinations called 10 “New Bali” tourist sites. Those include Toba Lake (North Sumatra), Tanjung Kelayang (Bangka Belitung), Tanjung Lesung (Banten), Borobudur (Central Java), Bromo-Tengger-Semeru (East Java), Labuan Bajo (East Nusa Tenngara), Mandalika (West Nusa Tenggara) and Wakatobi (Southeast Sulawesi).

Bromo-Tengger-Semeru, one of 10 "New Bali" in Indonesia

The country has set a target of serving 20 million foreign visitors by 2019 while Vietnam expects to welcome 17-20 million foreign holidaymakers by 2020.

VNA