At the meeting with Vietnam’s new ambassador to Indonesia Hoang Tuan Anh in early 2016, Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya stressed that the political relations of the two countries are good, but if the people-people relationship has not developed, as shown by the limited development of tourism, the people of the two countries cannot understand each other, and therefore cannot have a solid foundation for bilateral relations.
We can say that tourism plays an important role in promoting bilateral relations. In recent years, tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia has recorded positive developments: the two countries signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in Tourism in 2006; regularly organize joint missions and tourist programmes to provide opportunities for travel companies to seek to develop cooperation between the two countries. The tourism marketing strategy of Vietnam towards 2020 has identified Indonesia in particular and ASEAN in general as important markets to develop.
Most recently, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and Goldentour have organised Presstrips and Famtrips to Vietnam in November 2014, May 2015 and October 2016. The number of tourists between the two countries is constantly increasing, especially as Vietnam Airlines has opened direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta since 2012.
In the present context, when the airway between the two countries has been increasingly strengthened, along with the favourable conditions, tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia has been developing. According to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, visitor exchanges between Vietnam and Indonesia have constantly increased over the years. In 2012, total arrivals between the two nations were nearly 95,000, and in 2015, there were nearly 63,000 Vietnamese tourists visiting Indonesia.
Vietnam has exempted Indonesian citizens from the visa requirement since December 4, 2003 and Indonesia has also granted visa-free entry for citizens of Vietnam since February 1, 2004. This has created favourable conditions to promote visitors between Vietnam and Indonesia.
Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Ibnu Hadi said that Vietnam not only has beautiful tourist destinations, but its hospitality facilities and infrastructure are also improving; when visiting Vietnam, visitors will find a very safe and friendly atmosphere. Airline connections between Indonesia and Vietnam are increasingly favourable for the exploitation of direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Jakarta.
Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world. Islam is the popular religion in Indonesia, accounting for 87.2 percent of the population, in addition to Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism. According to tour operators, Indonesian tourists are impressed with a number of tourist destinations in Vietnam such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh, Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An. Indonesian tourists enjoy shopping, taking pictures, Indonesian-speaking tour guides, comfortable transport vehicles with wifi and fried food. In the coming time, Vietnam should invest in developing services, infrastructure, products and training Indonesian-speaking tour guides to attract more Indonesian visitors to Vietnam.
Experts of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) forecast the Indonesian market will grow strongly, reaching 9 million people travelling abroad in 2017. However, the Indonesian tourism market has a lot of potential because the number of tourists account for only 2.9 percent of the total population of the country.
In the future, the Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the two countries should strengthen exchanges of visits to promote cooperation and further develop various types of tourist services links between the two countries, contributing to bilateral relations. Minister Arief Yahya also pledged to do his best and work together with other sectors of the Indonesian government to open direct flights connecting Hanoi and Jakarta soon and this would be a highlight to promote tourism between the two countries.
According to Ambassador Hoang Anh Tuan, Vietnam's tourism sector needs to promote tourism, market introduction and support each other to participate in the event to introduce tourism products, to provide information about the country and people in order to attract customers. At the same time, travel businesses in Vietnam and Indonesia also need to exchange and share experiences on tourism development and the coordination between the authorities, businesses, hotels, transportation and aviation in attracting tourists, to have an appropriate development approach in the coming time.
Thu Huyen
Vietnamese
