Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM) is Vietnam’s leading and distinctive international fair, held annually in April by the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents. As the largest tourism fair in Vietnam (since 2013) and a major fair in the region, VITM Hanoi 2022 not only deploys promotional activities, promotes and provides direct products tourism for businesses, for the community (B2B and B2C), but the fair is also suitable for the reopening of the Vietnamese tourism sector in the new normal context. VITM 2022 took place right after Vietnam announced the reopening of tourism activities from March 15, 2022 in the new normal context, which created opportunities for management agencies and tourism promotion agencies. Besides, businesses exchanged and discussed issues related to the recovery and development of Vietnam’s tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Son La and Lao Cai tourism is more ready than ever to welcome domestic and foreign tourists. Tourism communities from Bac Ha, Y Ty and Ta Phin districts of Lao Cai, Moc Chau and Van Ho districts of Son La attended GREAT-Bac Ha booth number A99-102 at the fair from March 31 to April 3, 2022, at Hanoi International Exhibition Center. GREAT-Bac Ha booth jubilantly promoted Northwest tourism with a special performance by the performance team of Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province, bringing the national identity of the Northwest mountainous region such as money stick dance, Hmong flute, pan-pipe dance, Thai Xoe dance performance of Moc Chau-Van Ho district, the dance of the black Ha Nhi ethnic people,… attracted the attention of more than 1000 visitors to the booth per day at the fair.
Vietnam International Travel Mart VITM 2022 took place with 320 booths, and attracted more than 40,000 attendees, affirming the reopening of Vietnam’s tourism under the new normal, creating an opportunity to restore the recovery and development of tourism after the Covid pandemic. In addition to digital transformation in tourism, in order to restore and promote Vietnam’s tourism, tourism businesses and tourism communities in Lao Cai and Son La are adapting to new conditions and circumstances to develop their tourism.
The booths were all well received by the customers participating in the fair, some of the booths distributed all promotional material on the first day. This is a result exceeding the expectations of the tourism communities participating in the booth. Mr. Bui Van Vinh – Head of Culture & Information Department of Bac Ha district shared “We are very grateful to GREAT Projects and CRED for their enthusiastic support. They provided beautiful communication materials, impressive videos promoting Bac Ha tourism and a training course on tourism promotion skills, so that Bac Ha’s booth has a lot of interested customers, even large corporations want a long-term investment in tourism in Bac Ha. Attending the fair is a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences and find partners in the tourism development of Bac Ha.”
The activity to support the performance of the Lao Cai and Son La tourism communities at the fair is within the framework of the GREAT Project “The Aus4Equality Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism”, funded by the Australian Government and implemented by the Center for Rural Economy Development (CRED).
