On 25 January 2018, the tourism publicity activity themed Viet Nam Night was successfully organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam during the 37th ASEAN Tourism Forum. H.E. Mr. Ngvyen Ngoc Thien, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam, and more than 600 delegates from relevant international and regional organizations, tourism industries and media were present.
Minister Ngvyen Ngoc Thien said in his remarks that Viet Nam will hold the 38th ASEAN Tourism Forum in Halong city, Quang Ninh province in 2019, which will be an important event for Viet Nam to hold again after ten years. Over the past ten years, Viet Nam had been committed to promoting ASEAN's solidarity and cooperation, and making ASEAN an attractive destination for tourism. Viet Nam took tourism as a key area of national development and construction. The number of inbound tourists had increased from 4.3 million in 2008 to 13 million in 2017, and tourism revenue had increased from USD 2.7 billion to 23 billion. Viet Nam had become one of the fastest growing tourism markets in the world. Viet Nam looked forward to taking this event as a starting point to work closely with all parties to effectively organize the 38th ASEAN Tourism Forum, which would make greater contributions to the sustainable development of regional tourism industry and the realization of common prosperity.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province, expected all guests to come to Halong city next year to attend the 38th ASEAN Tourism Forum, and to experience the unique cultural atmosphere and beautiful natural scenery of Quang Ninh. At the scene of the event, Vietnamese artists performed special show of literature and art, showing the historical and cultural traditions and tourism resources of Viet Nam.
H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), was invited to attend the event and exchange views with all guests on deepening ASEAN-China tourism cooperation.