An online travel portal, intended to better advertise Vietnamese tourism and facilitate domestic and international visitors, will debut in December.

The launch of the portal – named VTV Travel – follows a co-operation agreement inked among the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Vietnam Television, Viettel and Nam Viet Communication Technology Development and Investment JSC in the capital on Tuesday.

The portal was developed as the digital era of Industry 4.0 with new technology applications has comprehensively changed transactions between travel agencies and tourists, said VNAT General Director Nguyen Van Tuan.

Tuan said he hoped that the portal would introduce Viet Nam’s tourism image to holidaymakers while assisting his administration in gathering feedback from travellers. Through this portal, visitors will have access to a huge database of destinations, introductory videos, regional and local specialties nation-wide.

At the same time, tourists will receive consultations about localities thanks to the site’s information about schedules, directions, hotels, restaurants and events.

They will be also assisted in solving their complaints as the portal will help them connect with the relevant authorities when necessary.

Viet Nam’s hospitality industry has experienced remarkable growth since the beginning of this year.

Statistics from the General Statistics Office showed that the country welcomed some 11.61 million foreign holiday-makers over the past nine months, a year-on-year rise of 23 per cent with visitors by air, road and sea up 17.4 per cent, 62.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Tourists from Asia rose 27.2 per cent; Europe 10 per cent; the Americas 12.5 per cent; Oceania 6.3 per cent; and Africa 19.5 per cent.

The number of domestic tourists topped 62.1 million in the period, according to the data.

Total income from tourism in nine-month period reached VND451 trillion (US$19.8 billion), an increase of 20 per cent in comparison with the same period last year.

The country is hoping to attract 15.7 million international tourists and 80-82 million domestic tourists this year. — VNS