Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (C) attends the conference for tourism development in central region and highlands (Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu)

Participants urged for regional connectivity and regional-level coordinating mechanism. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former vice director of Institute of Tourism Studies, suggested the restructuring of tourism products:“We have to focus on developing tourism product chain of the whole central region, not of individual locality. The chain will comprise of signature products of every locality. High-end marine tourism will continue to be prioritized.”

Participants stressed the need to exempt visas or issue electronic visas quickly and develop nightlife entertaiment and seabed exploration services.

Addressing the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pointed out the central and central highland regions’ tourism advantages, including sea and islands, culture, landscape, caves, 11 world heritages, and nearly 2,000km of magnificent coastline.  The regions are unique as they are inhabited by 47 ethnic groups. The Prime Minister emphasized that the regions should develop tourism clusters rather than merely rely on tourism resources. 

The central and central highland regions comprise of 19 provinces and cities with a total population of 24 million. Last year, the regions welcomed 9.5 million foreign tourists and 56 million domestic tourists compared with a total of 15.5 million foreign arrivals and 80 million domestic arrivals to Vietnam.