The figure was released by the Vietnam National Tourism Administration at a meeting of the ASEAN Taskforce which opened in Hanoi on April 5.

At the four-day event, delegates from ASEAN tourism agencies and associations will focus their discussion on the implementation of the ASEAN tourism strategic plan during the 2011-2015 period with priorities given to developing tourism products, improving tourism quality and boosting tourism promotion.

They compared notes on the exchange of tourism information, developing different tourism products based on the nature, community, culture and heritage, along with cruiser and water-way tours.

Other issues such as human resources, tourism environment as well as measures to cope with adverse impacts of climate change will also be put on the table.

ASEAN is now a popular destination for regional and international visitors. In 2010, ASEAN countries received a total of 65 million of foreign tourists.

Since joining the bloc, Vietnam has attached importance to multilateral cooperation with other members and as a result, ASEAN has become one of the country’s three largest tourism markets with the number of visitors having remarkably increased in recent years.

Currently, Vietnam is working with Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to make a documentary film titled “Four countries-One destination” aiming to promote tourism destinations in the four countries. (Source: VNA)