This was the second time the eight northwestern provinces agreed to unite to establish tourism trade names in the region.

At the event, delegates drew experience from projects over the two years of the programme. They focused on implementing the Northwestern Path in coordination with the Netherlands Development Organisation in Vietnam (SNV), assessing cooperation with the business sector in developing tourism in the region, and preparing to connection Luang Prabang (Laos) with the four provinces of Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Lao Cai.

Bui Thi Kim Dung, Vice Chairwoman of Lao Cai provincial People’s Committee, suggested two, three or four provinces should coordinate to design common tourism products, and all eight northwestern provinces should create a regional framework to propose to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism so they can develop policies suitable for the tourism in the region.

Delegates also agreed to organise the National Tourism Year in 2013 and put the northwestern tourism development cooperation programme into the national tourism promotion programme for the 2011-2015 period.

In the future, the VNAT will assist in raising the quality of human resources, to facilitate the promotion of tourism trade names in the wide-open northwestern region.