The second US – North Korea summit held on February 27 and 28 in Hanoi has ended, leaving many imprints about Hanoi`s safe, friendly, attentive and attractive destination for international friends and reporters.
The hosting of the summit is considered a golden opportunity for MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism, also known as meetings industry, of Hanoi and Vietnam to make breakthroughs.
Golden opportunity for tourism promotion
The second US – North Korea summit held in Hanoi has just closed. Seizing the “golden” opportunity, the tourism industry in Vietnam and Hanoi organized free tours for foreign reporters covering the summit. There were nine free tours around Hanoi, Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) and Ninh Binh. Besides, thousands of gifts, publications, data promoting tourism in Hanoi and Vietnam have been delivered to foreign reporters.
International correspondents were excited to enjoy Vietnamese traditional dishes and the places of interest of the capital city. According to reporter Mohamed Almenshawy from news channel Al Shouk News (Egypt), he has visited 13 famous places in Hanoi in a very short time. “Hanoi is very beautiful and peaceful, I’m very impressed with the way Vietnamese people ride on the street. I will definitely come back and make interesting clips about Hanoi to convey it to international audiences,” said Mohamed Almenshawy.
At the time of US President Donald Trump tweeting on February 5 confirming that Hanoi has been chosen to host the second US – North Korea summit, the whole world was looking towards Vietnam. International media gave many reasons why Vietnam was chosen to host this event, including the country's ability to provide a highly secure environment, the country as a symbol of national unity efforts.
Director of Viet Circle Company Phan Dinh Hue said this was a “golden” opportunity for Hanoi tourism in particular and Vietnam tourism in general to create a breakthrough, attracting international friends with the image of a safe, friendly, and attractive destination. It was because that even “fastidious” people like the US President or North Korea’s leader also believed in choosing Hanoi to host this top-notch event a right decision.
How to develop MICE tourism?
The success of the summit will help the world know Hanoi, Vietnam, a destination of important events of international influence, Deputy General Director of HanoiRedtours told the Economic and Urban newspapers.
In addition, through this event, Hanoi and Vietnam tourism industry should aim to become the leading destination for MICE tourism in Southeast Asia. As this kind of tourism not only attracts conferences and traditional travels but also draws businessmen as well, opening up many opportunities for economic investment and bringing long-term benefits.
To do this, experts believe that the tourism industry needs to research and establish an agency specialized in handling marketing and tourism promotion through unexpected events. Predetermining strategies, plans, draw formulas so that every time an unexpected event comes up, we can be proactive and quick to host it, like the Thailand - TCEP Convention and Exhibition Bureau. In addition, it is necessary to emphasize security advantages when organizing important international events. This is the most important message for MICE guests to choose Hanoi and Vietnam.
Head of the Secretariat of the National Tourism Advisory Council Hoang Nhan Chinh said that opening a direct air route to the US was a timely approach for some Vietnamese enterprises to attract more MICE visitors this time. The Tourism Advisory Council has sent a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc proposing the expansion of overloaded international airports such as Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat.
Vietnam possesses many good tourism infrastructure, many US hotel management groups are here and established service standards for this market. The tourism sector mission was to continue upgrading the quality of destinations; maintain and apply many policies, facilitating visitors in visa granting procedures, Chinh added.
Mai Nguyen - Ho Ha