On the afternoon of March 2 (local time), within the framework of his visit to Spain, at the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Madrid, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang met with Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director of UNWTO.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang met with Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director of UNWTO at the organization's headquarters in Madrid. Photo: VGP
At the meeting, the UNWTO Executive Director expressed his pleasure at welcoming Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang to UNWTO, highly appreciated the close cooperation between UNWTO and Vietnam, and expressed his impression of Vietnam's achievements in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, dynamic socio-economic development and sustainable tourism in recent years; and emphasized the positive assessment of world tourism organizations about Vietnam as a favorite destination for international tourists.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang welcomed the important role of UNWTO and the Executive Director personally in promoting global tourism recovery to contribute to sustainable socio-economic development, gender equality, education, job creation and rural development; thanked the Executive Director of UNWTO for his support in promoting UNWTO to cooperate and support Vietnam's tourism industry, especially in tourism planning, tourism product development, building legal documents and capacity building.
The two sides shared the impact and influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global tourism industry, the opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese and world tourism in the coming time, and discussed a number of measures to promote cooperation between Vietnam and UNWTO.
The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that UNWTO strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, select Vietnam to host a number of UNWTO events; provide technical support on digital transformation, application of information technology to develop a smart tourism ecosystem, statistics, response to climate change, positioning and developing Vietnam's national tourism brand; support training and development of tourism human resources through granting scholarships to participate in specialized training courses and sending international experts to attend and share experiences at conferences and seminars organized by Vietnam.
Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic said that UNWTO is considering the possibility of organizing a major international event in Vietnam at the end of 2023 and affirmed that it will continue to support and accompany Vietnam in recovering and developing the tourism industry towards sustainable development. Photo: VGP
The UNWTO Executive Director highly appreciated Vietnam's active and responsible participation at UNWTO; shared about the difficulties of Vietnam's tourism industry in Asia - Pacific, the region most heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; affirmed that Vietnam has great potential for tourism development, is a favorite destination for citizens of many countries; positively acknowledged Vietnam's proposals, said that UNWTO is considering the possibility of organizing a major international event in Vietnam at the end of 2023 and affirmed that it will continue to support and accompany Vietnam in recovering and developing the tourism industry towards sustainable development such as supporting digital transformation, human resource development, improving governance capacity and coordinating tourism development.
Research on opening direct flights to Spain
On the same day, March 2, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang met with Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Reyes Maroto.
The two sides agreed to continue effectively implementing the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), striving to bring two-way trade turnover to 5 billion USD in the coming time.
The two sides agreed to promote cooperation in tourism, and agreed to cooperate and participate in tourism promotion events in the two countries.
The Deputy Prime Minister proposed that Spain provide tourism training courses and technical assistance to Vietnam for projects on sustainable tourism management and development.
The Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism affirmed that the potential for cooperation between the two countries in tourism is huge; agreed to consider studying the possibility of opening direct flights, creating favorable conditions for tourists from both countries to travel.
