VietNamNet Bridge - Thousands of freelancers are hurrying to join tourism and tour guide associations as the membership will give them opportunities to practice as legal tour guides.

While the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and travel firms have repeatedly called for extending the visa waiver to attract more foreign travelers, other agencies say it still needs thorough consideration.

VietNamNet Bridge - Traveling the US has become more realistic as travel firms have slashed tour fees.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Hoi An Town authorities’ decision that only local people can provide homestay services has stirred controversy.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Tourism Advisory Board says that Vietnam has less open visa policies in comparison with other regional countries.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is encouraging university students to study for a  bachelor’s degree in tourism in the face of an employee shortage in the sector. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Tourism and related services make great contributions to economic growth and offset the decline in crude oil output, experts say.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnamese aviation market grew rapidly with 30.3 million passengers served in the first half of the year, an increase of 19.5 percent over the same period last year.

Though they have official practice cards, freelance tour guides will become unemployed if they cannot satisfy new requirements in the 2017 Tourism Law which takes effect on January 1, 2018.

VietNamNet Bridge - The increasing number of travelers and government policies to boost tourism development have prompted investors to build hotels.

VietNamNet Bridge - All hotels have to cooperate with online travel agents (OTA) to sell hotel reservations. However, many of them are seeking ways to find guests directly and escape heavy reliance on the sites.  

VietNamNet Bridge - Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue says that Vietnam would rather attract one more million travelers than exploit 1 million more tons of crude oil.

VietNamNet Bridge - The tourism sector’s target of receiving 13 million foreign travelers in 2017 is within reach as more Chinese and South Korean visitors are coming to Vietnam.

VietNamNet Bridge - A report from the Vietnam Tourism Association showed that 6.5 million Vietnamese traveled abroad in 2016 and spent $7-8 billion. Spending per capita was $1,230 on outbound tours, an increase of 15 percent over 2015.

VietNamNet Bridge - Located in advantageous positions and providing services at high fees, some luxury hotels have been taking losses.

The sea turtle conservation ex-situ method was the prerequisite for Hoi An City to implement a plan to build a Cham Island MPA into a sea turtle conservation center in the central region of Vietnam. 

VietNamNet Bridge - While the number of travelers to Vietnam has been increasing rapidly, the number of guests staying at high-end hotels has not risen.

With 135 million people traveling abroad last year, Chinese are being welcomed by many destinations all over the world, including HCMC.

The Vietnamese online tourism market is predicted to increase from $2.2 billion in value in 2015 to $9 billion by 2025. However, it is unclear if Vietnamese firms can obtain a slice of the potentially lucrative pie. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The formation of the ASEAN Economic Community is expected to open new markets for tourism, but Vietnam still cannot exploit the advantage.