Da Nang, Vietnam hold its maiden tourism roadshow in Delhi

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Da Nang Tourism Department organised a roadshow in New Delhi on August 4, 2022, in collaboration with Vietjet Air. The roadshow showcased the destination and introduced new direct routes connecting Da Nang to major cities in India. The event presented Da Nang, one of Asia’s top trending destinations, the city of exciting events and festivals to Indian tourism partners. It was packed with all information on tourist products and services of Da Nang and Central Vietnam, especially for leisure, MICE, and weddings, with an aim to boost the tourism exchange between Da Nang and India.

“It’s a golden time for us to enhance our mutual understanding and cooperation for tourism recovery and growth, considering the significant growth in trade and commerce exchange between Vietnam and India,” Nguyen Thị Hoai An, Director of Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center, the event organiser remarked. “Da Nang Tourism Roadshow in India 2022is a great opportunity for us to showcase our beautiful coastal city along with its diverse tourism products and services as well as promote the MICE and wedding destinations to India,” said Nguyen. She believes the event opened a new chapter for tourism cooperation between New Delhi and Da Nang, Vietnam. The event was attended by Pham Sanh Chau, The Ambassador of Vietnam Republic Socialist to India, Rajiv Mehra, Chairman of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, and more than 90 guests comprising Indian travel companies, and wedding planners.

Giving his speech at the roadshow, Pham Sanh Chau emphasised on the remarkable increase in outbound tourism from India due to the pent-up demand over the last two years. According to Pham, the average number of visas for Indians to enter Vietnam has surged after COVID-19, it has increased 24 times i.e., from 250 visas per day pre-COVID-19 to 6000 visas per day. In this, the Vietnamese Embassy has received many requests for weddings or conferences in Vietnam.

Giving his speech at the roadshow, Pham Sanh Chau emphasized the remarkable increase in outbound tourism from India due to the pent-up demand for the last two years. According to Mr. Pham, the average number of visas for Indians to enter Vietnam has surged after COVID-19, it has increased 24 times i.e., from 250 visas per day pre-COVID-19 to 6000 visas per day at the moment. In this, the Vietnamese Embassy has received many requests for weddings or conferences in Vietnam.

Vietjet Air to launch direct flights between India and Vietnam, including Da Nang

In cooperation with Da Nang to organize Da Nang Tourism Roadshow in India 2022, Vietjet Air has announced its new route plan with flights directly connecting major cities in India to Vietnam’s top destinations, including Da Nang. Vietjet will launch two first direct services linking Mumbai and New Delhi with Da Nang starting October 17 and 18. The airline will launch three more routes to Da Nang from Bengaluru (Bangalore), Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad on November 28, 29, and December 1 respectively.

Additional services from key Indian cities New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad to Vietnam’s economic and tourism hubs Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Phu Quoc will also get operational starting in September. Travelers can book promotional tickets from India to Vietnam with fares as low as INR9 (excluding taxes and fees) on every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from now until August 26 for the travel period from August 15, 2022, to March 26, 2023 (excluding public holidays) at www.vietjetair.com

“With 17 direct services, Vietjet will operate the largest flight network ever between India and Vietnam from September onwards”, said Mr. Jay L Lingeswara, Vietjet Commercial Director. “Travelers from five key Indian cities can now take direct flights to visit the beautiful coastal city of Da Nang, and then to surrounding tourism destinations including Hoi An ancient town, Hue Imperial city, My Son sanctuary, and Son Doong, the world’s largest cave, etc.” It is also more convenient and affordable for Indian travelers to visit not only Vietnam’s top destinations but also connect to other destinations in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and all over the Asia Pacific thanks to Vietjet’s expanding flight network. As the first airline flying directly between Vietnam and India, Vietjet is confident of further strengthening both countries’ connections in the coming time to meet travelers’ evolving demands while being able to offer them the most affordable airfares and joyful flight experiences,” Jay added.

MOU for enhancing cooperation between Vietnam and India

A Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony for tourism cooperation and partnership was held at Da Nang Tourism Roadshow in India 2022 in the presence of the Ambassador and tourism businesses. Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center (DTPC), the agency under the Tourism Department specializing in destination marketing and promotion established a partnership with Global Aviation Services Ptv. Ltd. (GASPL) to promote Da Nang in India. According to the MOU, the Da Nang agency pledged its support to Indian clients looking to learn more about the new destination.

Global Aviation Services has consulted DTPC in promoting activities to India since 2017, the company is also the coordinator for Da Nang Tourism Roadshow in India 2022.

Prabodh Tipnis – Group Managing Director of GASPL believed the recent tie-up between the company and Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center and the enhanced air connectivity from various Indian cities to Da Nang will witness a surge in tourism from different travel segments. “Da Nang Tourism will now have a local address in India and can be reached through our offices PAN India. This will also assist in enhancing the knowledge of the Indian trade partners the city has to offer, apart from Dragon Bridge and Bana Hills. The ‘Team Da Nang’ has shown its confidence in Global in promoting the destination,” said Tipnis.

Da Nang Tourism Association (DTA) signed an MOU with the Network of India MICE Agents (NIMA) aimed at developing MICE segmentation. DTA will respond to its partner’s request for MICE products and services, meanwhile, attract more MICE groups through the association with NIMA.

The partnership established in 2019 resulted in a series of webinars co-organized by DTA and NIMA in 2020 to provide destination knowledge to India travel agents. According to Jagdeep Bhagat, National Coordinator of NIMA, the organisation is keen to continue the relationship with Da Nang Tourism and believes in the everlasting, constructive and progressive partnership between the two organisations for mutual benefit.

Business networking session

17 tourism enterprises representing Da Nang, Central Vietnam tourism community including Furama Resort Da Nang, Vietnam Travel Mart, Vinpearl Group, Hoian Express, Almanity Resort & Spa, Hoa Binh Events, Vedana Lagoon Resort & Spa participated in the event to connect and introduce their products and services to over 120 tourism and media partners in India. The event generated over 1000 business meetings and interactions. Sharing the appreciation of the public-private partnership, enterprise representatives said the organisers held the event at the right time to capture the market’s attention, facilitating the connection between tourism businesses between New Delhi and India. 

Emphasizing on the importance of the Indian inbound market for tourism recovery to many Asian destinations, especially Da Nang, Nguyen Duc Quynh, General Director of Furama Da Nang Resort revealed the plan to pamper Indian tourists with the focus on the family group, MICE, and wedding, including the setup of a restaurant and wedding services catering to Indian travellers. Luong Van Trang, Deputy Director of Vietnam Travel Mart, one of the leading tour operators in Da Nang said that the company has its resources ready for Indian market and the event is one great opportunity for them to expand their connections to Indian travel agents and representative offices to attract India guests. In cooperation with Vietjet Air, the company is also organizing outbound and pilgrimage programs from Vietnam to India.