The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) recently announced the launch of its new official tourism website at www.vietnamtourism.vn.

The new website vietnamtourism.vn

The new website, a joint project by tourism authorities and the private sector, will feature articles by top travel writers and bloggers as well as photos of favourite destinations.

"The goal is to make this one of the top 10 tourism sites in the world," said Nguyen Van Tuan, the general director of VNAT.

The site aims to have 10 million users per year.

Tourism is expected to be a key pillar of Viet Nam's economy, contributing 32 billion USD or 10% of the national gross domestic product and employing a total of 3.5 million people in 2020.

The website is currently available in English only, but more languages will be introduced.

The project marks a new stage in the collaboration between the state and private sectors as investment came from companies operating in the tourism and hospitality industry.

A total of 61 million tourists, both foreign and domestic, traveled in the country in the first 10 months of 2016, spending 331.5 trillion VND (14.8 billion USD), up 19.1% year-on-year.

Viet Nam is expected to have 9.7 million foreign tourists and 62 million domestic tourists with a total revenue of 400 trillion VND (17.9 billion USD) this year.

The country is planning to waive visitor visa requirements for more countries or at least simplify visa procedures.

(Source: VNExpress International)