Impulsing cooperation in tourism development between Khanh Hoa and India

On August 28, in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province People's Committee coordinated with the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City to organize the India - Khanh Hoa Tourism Promotion Conference 2024. Le Huu Hoang - Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and Tushar Garg - Vice Consul of India in Ho Chi Minh City chaired the conference. Attending the conference were leaders of departments, branches and sectors of the province and nearly 200 representatives of tourism enterprises in Khanh Hoa and India.

Lots of potential for cooperation

At the conference, Vice Consul Tushar Garg assessed that Khanh Hoa has beautiful landscapes, pristine beaches and vibrant culture, with many similarities to Indian tourist destinations. Accordingly, India and Khanh Hoa can cooperate to develop health and yoga tourism, eco-tourism and cultural exchange programs. Similarly, representatives of Indian travel companies also assessed that the potential for cooperation in tourism development between India and Khanh Hoa is huge. Besides cultural tourism and eco-tourism, Khanh Hoa is also a very suitable destination for wedding tourism, MICE tourism, etc. "Khanh Hoa has spectacular landscapes and diverse cultural heritage, making it a very suitable destination for Indian tourists who want to experience. Meanwhile, India is very suitable for Vietnamese tourists to have cultural exploration tours, spiritual tourism, etc. We hope that in the coming time, businesses from both sides will connect and cooperate to exploit two-way tourism. This cooperation is not only meaningful in the economic field but also contributes to fostering a strong relationship between the two countries in general, between Khanh Hoa and India in particular", Abhineet Shukla - Head of the delegation of Indian tourism enterprises expressed.

Mr. Le Huu Hoang discusses about tourism development cooperation with Tushar Garg on the sidelines of the conference.

Representatives of Vietnamese and Indian tourism businesses assessed that the Indian tourist market has great potential and has been growing well recently. Indian tourists often stay for 5-6 nights and have a fairly high spending level... However, attracting Indian tourists to Nha Trang is facing many limitations due to the lack of direct flights. Tran Hoang Linh - Director of Vietjet Air's Central Branch said that Vietjet Air is maintaining 7 routes between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and 4 cities in India. The number of Indian tourists connecting from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang and Nha Trang is very large. Therefore, Linh suggested that India create conditions to open flights from India to Vietnam so that Vietjet can open flights to the Central region, including Khanh Hoa, because Indian tourists are very interested in coastal tourism. Also at the conference, some businesses with experience in exploiting the Indian tourist market said that in order to attract visitors from this country of more than 1.5 billion people, Khanh Hoa needs to invest more in culinary services according to the tastes of Indian guests.

Interested in wedding tourism and MICE tourism

At the conference, Khanh Hoa and Indian tourism enterprises were particularly interested in coordinating to organize wedding tours and MICE tours. Vineet Jain - a member of the Indian travel business delegation, assessed that Khanh Hoa has the potential to organize wedding tours for rich Indians, especially 5-day, 4-night weddings with 400 - 500 guests. However, to do this, Khanh Hoa must prepare very carefully in terms of transportation, restaurants, hotels, entertainment, etc. to serve the group of guests. In addition, Khanh Hoa tourism industry needs to have incentives and create conditions for Indian enterprises to bring guests to the province. In response to this opinion, Ngo Thi Thanh Thuy - Head of Market Development Department of Vinpearl Joint Stock Company expressed: "Vinpearl's tourism and resort complex on Hon Tre Island is capable of welcoming 2,500 guests at the same time. Vinpearl will meet all the needs of Indian tourists, from entertainment, shopping, sports, cuisine...”

Indian artists visit Ponagar Tower on August 28.

To exploit the Indian tourist market, representatives of many Indian travel companies said that, in the immediate future, Khanh Hoa businesses need to develop specific product packages so that businesses can offer them to Indian tourists. At the same time, Khanh Hoa should organize international cultural and entertainment events to attract Indian tourists. If this can be done, Indian travel companies are ready to connect flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Khanh Hoa. “Khanh Hoa needs a contact point for Indian businesses to contact to organize events and tours in Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa. The two sides also need to cooperate in marketing communications to target potential customers. If Khanh Hoa is chosen as a filming location for Indian films, it will create an information explosion, thereby attracting MICE groups and wedding tourism…” Abhineet Shukla shared.

Regarding the above proposal, Nguyen Thi Le Thanh - Director of the Department of Tourism said that Khanh Hoa tourism industry attaches great importance to cooperation with Indian enterprises. After this conference, Khanh Hoa will develop a marketing program to introduce services and destinations suitable for Indian tourists so that enterprises of both sides can coordinate to promote. At the same time, the province hopes that the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City will continue to support Khanh Hoa in promoting tourism; connecting to bring Indian artists and actors to Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa to experience tourism and film. The province is ready to support Indian film crews to make films.

The 2024 India - Khanh Hoa Tourism Promotion Conference is part of the Hello Vietnam Festival 2024 organized by the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City in coordination with the Provincial People's Committee. In addition to the tourism promotion conference, the Consulate General of India also brought a delegation of Indian artists (including 13 people, famous Indian film producers, actors, and singers) along with 26 delegates from Indian travel companies to visit, survey, and promote cultural heritages, landscapes, locations, and typical tourism services of the province.

LE HUU HOANG - Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee: The conference is an opportunity for agencies, units, and tourism enterprises of both sides to introduce the image of tourism in India and Khanh Hoa; thereby proposing solutions to promote cooperation in tourism development. Hopefully, the Consulate General of India will receive the information and pay attention to supporting and accompanying the province to create favorable conditions for cooperation in tourism development between Khanh Hoa and India. Khanh Hoa wants to coordinate with Indian enterprises, directors, and artists to produce cultural and cinematic products to contribute to introducing the culture and tourism of Khanh Hoa to the people of India, first of all in the film "Love in Vietnam" - the first diplomatic cooperation film between Vietnam and India (expected to start filming in September 2024)...

XUAN THANH

Translated by T.T