(TITC) – On the occasion of the 59th anniversary of Viet Nam’s tourism sector (July 9, 1960-2019), on 15 July, in Ha Noi, the ceremony of Viet Nam Tourism Awards 2019 was held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to honoring leading tourism enterprises. The ceremony had the attendance of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.
Opening the ceremony, Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh informed that “Viet Nam Tourism Awards” is the most prestigious annual award of Viet Nam Tourism which was first held in 1999. The award aims to honor leading enterprises which make significant contribution to tourism development, improve tourism service quality, diversify tourism products, strengthen international integration and promote Viet Nam tourism.
In his speech, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien highly valued significant performance of tourism sector during 59 years of development. In 2018, Viet Nam welcomed 15.5 million international arrivals, rising 19.9% over 2017. International visitors to Viet Nam in the first 6 months of 2019 reached approximately 8.5 million arrivals, up 7.5% over the same period last year.
Especially, the Minister praised the efforts and contribution of business community to the development of Viet Nam tourism. In the coming time, the tourism sector should focus on realizing the directions of the Party and the State on developing tourism into a key economic sector, improving the competitiveness, attracting investment, diversifing tourism products, pushing promotion and brand development, enhancing human resource training, information technology application, protecting social – natural environment.
At the ceremony, Viet Nam Tourism Awards were given to 10 leading inbound tour operators, 10 leading outbound tour operators, 10 leading domestic tour operators, 10 leading five-star hotels, 10 leading four-star hotels, 1 top tourist carrying airline, 1 fastest growing tourism airline, 5 leading tourist automobile carriers, 5 leading tourist waterway carriers, 5 leading restaurants, 5 leading tourism and entertainment destinations, 3 leading reststops for tourists, 10 leading golf courses, 5 leading tourism investment groups, 5 tourism training establishments; 5 media agencies for Vietnam tourism.
