Two-way tourist exchange between Vietnam and Australia has recovered strongly after the pandemic. In your opinion, why is there such a strong recovery?
- I am very happy that tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Australia has recovered. These are deliberate efforts by the Government to promote two-way tourism. This is achieved quite easily because Vietnam is inherently a very attractive destination.
What Australia does is create conditions to double the number of flights of Vietnamese airlines such as Vietnam Airlines or Vietjet Air to Australia. I think that created the turning point. Currently, we have Vietnam Airlines flying directly to 5 cities in Australia. No foreign airline has direct flights to many different Australian cities like Vietnam.
In 2023, there will be about 160,000 Vietnamese visitors to Australia and nearly 400,000 Australian visitors to Vietnam, showing a recovery approximately to the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not only in terms of quantity, Australian tourists also spend more and stay longer than tourists from many other countries. Therefore, I believe that the Australian tourist market is valuable to the Vietnamese tourism industry and will continue to grow.
What does Vietnam need to do to attract a large number of tourists from Australia?
- I believe that more and more Australians are visiting Vietnam, but it would be better if Vietnam proactively promoted tourism more strongly. In general, people in Australia want to go to Vietnam because they have been to Vietnam or heard about Vietnam from their friends. I myself came to Vietnam for the first time 20 years ago for this reason, at that time a lot of people talked about Vietnam. Word-of-mouth stories are indeed very important, but they are not enough. I think official promotional activities will bring benefits to Vietnam.
In addition, tourism infrastructure also needs to ensure quality, including hotels, services, and foreign language skills of employees in the tourism industry. I know that it is improving in Vietnam and the future is very bright.
However, remember that Vietnam is competing with many other destinations in the region. Australians are not afraid to travel far, they can choose other countries in the region, either Europe, America or Africa. Tourist destinations will have to compete fiercely with each other to attract Australian tourists, but I think Vietnam has many things to attract tourists.
So what do you personally like about Vietnam?
- I've been here for less than two years, but we travel many times on vacation. Last month, my husband and I went to Ho Chi Minh City for three days. We really like this place and when we travel we always try to find some opportunities to see what's going on locally and to explore, try the local cuisine and visit the sites.
Everything in Vietnam is interesting. You know, tourist attractions, beaches, mountains. Our first trip to Vietnam, as I said, was almost 20 years ago. We took the train to Sa Pa. We did it again when I came back as Ambassador and the place had changed, but things were still good. The Mekong Delta is also interesting.
An important point is that people are very friendly in Vietnam and it is a very safe place to travel. You know, women can travel alone to Vietnam without any problems. Families with children also do not encounter any problems. In a world with many uncertainties, Vietnam is truly a paradise of safety, security and friendliness.
Are there any joint tourism promotion and cooperation programs between the two countries that you consider effective?
- We are sharing a lot of knowledge and a lot of policymaking between the two Governments, looking at different models of industry cooperation. I will give you a very specific example.
From 2017 to 2021, the Australian government has funded a project called: "Promoting gender equality through improving economic efficiency of agricultural production and tourism development in Lao Cai and Son La provinces." " (GREAT) is worth 33.7 million AUD. These are remote areas, they have much to offer tourists, but not much infrastructure.
So we have provided financial support, especially for women in these areas to create homestays and build restaurants and other conditions for them to attract tourists. The GREAT project has been extended for phase two and will continue from now until 2027.
Our Australian Government Trade and Investment Agency in Vietnam (Austrade) is working with the Vietnam National Tourism Administration to implement the project "Strengthening Australia - Vietnam Tourism Cooperation". Accordingly, we are undertaking a number of activities. The most recent was the Australia-Vietnam Tourism Conference in June in Melbourne, which focused heavily on bringing together tourism operators and building their understanding of the opportunities in Vietnam. It really highlights the tourism potential of both countries and explores ways to promote and better cooperate on tourism from both sides.
Another activity that will take place in September this year in Ho Chi Minh City is the ITE HCMC Fair. We will be bringing Australian tourism operators to Vietnam to try and once again increase tourism business understanding of what is available in Vietnam and how to operate in the Vietnamese market.
In the coming time, what activities will the Australian Embassy in Vietnam have to promote tourism cooperation between the two countries?
- We have many activities, as well as being very active on social networks and media. Personally, I plan to work for 2 weeks across Australia, going to Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and in each place, I will talk to travel companies, businessmen, government agencies... from individuals to state governments to Vietnam to try to promote more business and tourism activities between the two countries.
We are also working with the Vietnam National Tourism Administration and provincial governments in Vietnam to try to promote Vietnam as a destination for Australians. We see a close connection between business travel and leisure travel, as well as travel and study abroad/education, and hope that they will grow together, spreading the good things about Vietnam. Male.
Vietnam is very interesting to Australians, in terms of both culture and natural beauty. Australians know about the reputation of Vietnamese cuisine and they want to come and enjoy the diverse cuisine here. So it's not difficult to promote Vietnam to Australians, but we want to do it with the Vietnamese side. We look forward to working with the Government and all agencies in Vietnam to promote cultural connections and understanding.
