Vietnam sets up $13 million tourism promotion fund

The company, under the management of Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, will begin operations next February with VND300 billion from the state budget as its registered capital. 

Every year, its capital will be augmented by funding from several sources including 10 percent of the country’s visa fee revenues, 5 percent of entrance fee revenues from tourist sites and contributions from tourism enterprises, organizations, individuals and other sources.

The company will invest in promotions, product development, training of human resources, and improvement of institutional capacity in the tourism sector. It has been set up in accordance with the Law on Tourism that was passed last June.

Vietnam's tourism marketing budget is around $2 million a year, just 2.9 percent of Thailand’s, 2.5 percent of Singapore’s and 1.9 percent of Malaysia’s, according to Forbes.

Vietnam received more than 14 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months this year, up 21.3 percent from a year ago. Tourism revenue in the first 10 months of 2018 is estimated at VND505 trillion (approximately $21.7 billion), an increase of nearly 21 percent over the same period last year, according to official statistics.

Vietnam ranks 80 among 136 countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2018, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.

However, its place is much lower than other countries in the region like Laos and Cambodia, which are ranked 53rd and 73rd, respectively.