The event was jointly held by 19 cities and provinces in the regions to seek ways to promote tourism.
PM Phuc said the regions have a lot of potential to develop catering and entertainment services as well as attract investment from finance, banking, insurance, and health sectors.
They are important factors to ensure sustainable tourism development, he said, stressing that the regions should create a tourism architecture that reflects the unique features of Vietnam to draw more tourists both at home and abroad.
The government leader noted that Vietnam has granted visa exemptions to tourists from 24 countries and territories and conducted online visa applications for those from 47 nations around the world.
The PM also informed the participants that he had just signed into issuance of a resolution to apply e-visa for 34 more countries.
The government always listens to the problems that the tourism sector is facing and will closely work with local authorities to maintain a peaceful environment, social order and safety for tourists to Vietnam, he affirmed.
Vietnam will open its sky to welcome more visitors, the PM said, adding that the country has been upgrading airports and seaports as well as building inter-provincial coastal road systems to facilitate tourism development.
At the event, authorities of central provinces granted investment licences to and signed Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation with businesses to develop tourism projects in the region.
As a gateway of the East-West economic corridor to the sea, the central and Central Highlands regions stretch through the trans-Viet and trans-Asia tourism routes. The regions boast numerous eye-catching bays and islands from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan provinces.
The regions have a number of world cultural heritage sites and are endowed with the most beautiful beaches. They are also home to 47 out of the 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups.
The central and Central Highlands regions served about 56 million domestic holidaymakers and 9.5 million foreign tourists out of the country’s total 80 million and 15.5 million, respectively.
The regions’ tourism sector earned over VND 110 trillion (US$ 4.75 billion) in revenue, making up about 18.75 percent of the country’s total tourism revenue.
