“Thirty companies in Vietnam have registered to join the festival. An artist group of 20 people is ready for the program. We will promote culture, tourism as well as investment and trade exchange between Vietnam and the two countries,” Tinh said.

South Korea and Japan were the second and fourth best markets for the country’s tourism in the first four months of this year. Around 178,100 South Koreans visited in the period, up 32.8% year-on-year, and around 148,900 Japanese, up 15.8% year-on-year.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Japan Association of Travel Agents inked a memorandum of understanding in 2008 to boost tourist exchange.

The association has included Vietnam as one of the destinations of its Visit the World Campaign, a program to increase the number of Japanese outbound travelers to 20 million this year compared to 17.3 million in 2007.

Tinh said the bureau had invited Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue to promote their images in the two countries because these are the favorite destinations of Japanese and South Koreans.

“We will focus on activities to promote sea tourism, festivities of 1,000 years of Thang Long-Hanoi and tourism in HCMC and the Mekong Delta,” he said, adding the bureau had not made different contents for the two countries because Japanese and South Korean guests have so many similar tastes.

Tinh said the bureau was preparing for a similar festival in China this year.

The site won the recognition thanks to its three outstanding characteristics: the length of its cultural history, the continuity of the citadel as a power centre, and the variety of relics it contains.

Relics found in the centre of the citadel show that it was influenced by many different cultures, theories, and systems of thought.

The centre of the citadel embodies the enduring cultural tradition of the people of Vietnam ’s Red River Delta, a tradition which has existed for 13 centuries.

Restoration of the Royal Citadel began in 2006 when it was officially recognised as a special national relic.

The Hanoi People’s Committee said UNESCO’s recognition of the heritage is very significant for Vietnam , which is currently making grand preparations for its capital’s millennial anniversary.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, who is also Head of the State Steering Committee on Tourism, affirmed that the industry’s growth had helped step up socio-economic development, poverty reduction and economic restructuring in localities nationwide.

However, to become a mainstay of the national economy in the next 10 years with a target of hosting 10-15 million arrivals of international tourists and over 60 million domestic tourists, the Deputy PM reckoned that the industry should promptly build and submit to the government for approval a strategy on tourism development for the period of 2011-2020, with a vision towards 2030.

According to the Deputy PM, to lure more international tourists, it is necessary to increase the quality of the country’s tourist sites under international standards and upgrade sites that are yet to meet such standards.

The number of foreign tourists to the country is rising, from just 250,000 in 1990 to more than 4 million last year, ranking 5 th in the region and 40 th in the world.

Vietnam hosted 2.5 million foreign arrivals and served 17 million domestic tourists in the first six months of this year, earning some 45 trillion VND (2.36 billion USD).

Tad Pha Suam Warterfall in Champasak Province (southwest of Laos)

Route 8 links Nakhon Phanom in Thailand with Khammouane in Laos. It then links to Route 12 in Laos which continues to Dong Hoi in Vietnam and then China.  Route 9 links Mukdahan (Thailand) via Savannakhet (Laos) to Danang (Vietnam). Therefore, Laos is the best location for creating a link with four countries: Thailand, Myanma, Vietnam, and China. If the roads in Laos can be connected, people can easily travel to all five countries in the region. And it was found that travelling through Laos will be the shortest way. On the other hand, both Route 8 and Route 12 have good potential for eco-tourism since they have given the number of caves, waterfalls and other tourist attractions along the way.

Mr. Vitavas said he hopes that when the third Thai-Lao Bridge across the Mekong River intend to open in November 2011, linking Nakhon Phanom (Thailand) and Khammouane (Laos), it will help facilitate more tourism and trade on Route 8.

Phong Nha - Ke Bang Cave (Quang Binh)

At the summit preparatory conference for the provinces using both Route 8 and Route 12 which took place in end of August 2010 in Dong Hoi (Quang Binh), representatives of provinces of Quang Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh from Vietnam, Bolikhamsai and Khammouane from Laos, Nakhom Phanom, Sakon Nakhom, Nongkhai from Thailand, two observe provinces of Quang Tri (Vietnam) and Savanankhet (Laos) has given a number of strategies to enhance effective cooperation and potential exploitation of provinces that use two above routes.

According to Mr. Vitavas, the strategy for tourism promotion should include a common market with three to five countries treated as one destination. As well, it is also important to develop the human resources, encourage cross-border facilitation, private-sector participation and tourism-related infrastructure. To promote tourism in the region, there should be a single visa and organize package tours which tourists can visit many Asian countries at one time to save costs, he adds.

To accomplish this project, Mr. Vitavas urges the Greater Mekong Subregion members - Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and southern China - to enhance co-operation in tourism. Better joint co-operation of tourism is a good way to generate economic impetus and help alleviate poverty that is still prevalent in countries in the region, he adds.