Marine tourism dynamics of marine economy in Vietnam: official

"Marine tourism is said to be dynamics of Vietnamese marine economy," said an official on Wednesday.

Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy director general of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism made the remark at an international press conference held in capital Hanoi on Wednesday on promoting " Exciting Vietnam" campaign.

According to Cuong, "Vietnam has a long coastal line of about 3, 200 km with many beautiful beaches and luxurious resorts. Vietnam is speeding efforts and mobilizing resources of all ministries, sectors as well as investors to further take advantage of this."

Taking southern Phu Quoc Island for example, Cuong said Vietnamese government has created favorable conditions for visitors to the island as foreigners or Vietnamese holding foreign passports can enjoy visa exemption for a maximum stay of 30 days on the island.

Vietnam is carrying out studies "to extend tours to farther islands," said the official.

Echoing Cuong, Ho Anh Tuan, deputy minister of culture, sports and tourism said that "Vietnamese government is very interested in marine tourism, including cruise tourism."

"We have invited big cruise line companies in the world to make research on tours in Vietnamese sea. They highly appreciate potential of cruise tourism in Vietnam," said Tuan.

"Vietnam has examined Chan May port in central Thua Thien Hue province, which will be built to be a tourism port being able to welcome cruise ships of more than 5,000 passengers," said Tuan at the press conference.

Statistics released at the press conference showed that in 2014, Vietnam set to receive 8-8.2 million international tourists. The country is projected to welcome 37.5 million domestic tourists. Total revenue from Vietnamese tourism is expected to hit 240 trillion Vietnamese dong (11.37 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014.