Vietnam Airlines and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) signed an agreement on May 28 to work together in promoting Vietnamese tourism through market research, advertising and international tourism fairs.

The national flag carrier and VNAT will draw up a shared plan on tourism promotion for each year.

Vietnam Airlines said it would come onboard by promoting Vietnam abroad and transporting VNAT’s delegations and goods.

In June 2007, Vietnam Airlines will be transporting 3,450kg of maps and books on Vietnam’s tourism, free of charge, to Vietnamese embassies in Russia, France, Japan, Germany, and China. Within this year, the sector will also implement the "Three Nations, One Destination" program to promote trans-national tours through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and establish representative offices in Russia and France.

Tourism agencies are set to organise familiarisation trips for foreign travel agencies, reporters and investors to acquaint them and their respective countries with Vietnamese tourism.

Tourism sector representatives will also ask the government to waive visas for foreign visitors who travel to Vietnam by sea.

The country’s tourism plan also includes receiving 5.5-6.0 million international arrivals by 2010, to create $4-4.5 billion in revenue.

Since February this year, the country has received more than 1.4 million international tourists, a 12.5% increase compared to the same time last year.