HCM City (VNA) – The Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism is holding
tourism promotion activities in Vietnam from April 4 to 7 during the first time
this landlocked country takes part in the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival.
This also
marks the start of activities to be held on the threshold of the 70th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations (November 17, 1954 – 2024).
At the festival, a programme named “Go Mongolia
Roadshow 2024” is organised to introduce the Mongolian culture, tourism and
cuisine; and explore tourism cooperation opportunities between the two
countries.
Galbaa
Davkharbayar, Second Secretary of the Mongolian Embassy in Vietnam, said the
HCM City Tourism Festival is a chance for his country to introduce its culture
and people to the Vietnamese and help travel businesses of Mongolia seek partnerships
with Vietnamese firms to increase visitors to each other’s markets, thus
contributing to economic ties and friendship between the two countries.
The numbers of Vietnamese visitors to Mongolia and
Mongolian visitors to Vietnam have been on the rise over the past years, but
that has yet to fully live up to the countries’ huge tourism potential, he
noted.
He cited
statistics as showing that more than 2,000 Vietnamese tourists came to Mongolia
in 2023, when the number of Mongolian travellers to the Southeast Asian nation topped
15,000.
Zolkhuu
Ulambayar, Director of Mongolian travel company TMD Tourist LLC, perceived that
aside from each country’s tourism advantages, the bilateral visa exemption agreement,
which came into force on March 7 this year, will also create favourable
conditions and good opportunities for businesses to strengthen trade, investment
and tourism ties, as well as people-to-people exchanges.
HCM City is a big tourism centre of Vietnam and
also has a large number of tourists travelling abroad. Given this, an Ulaanbaatar
– HCM City air route expected to be opened by Mongolian Airlines this November
will help encourage more Mongolians and Vietnamese to visit each other’s
countries, he added./.