More than 600 travel companies from 50 cities and provinces around Vietnam and 15 countries and territories are showcasing products and services at the Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM), which opened in Hanoi on April 13.

With the theme “Culture tourism”, the four-day fair is aimed at encouraging travel companies to invest in developing new tourism products through making the most of Vietnam’s unique traditional culture and cultural heritage values.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said he hopes that businesses at the fair will meet new partners, seek new business opportunities, and sign many contracts, creating momentum for the development of Vietnam’s tourism sector and foreign partners.

The fair is also expected to create opportunities for localities to connect with travel companies to develop tourism products, he said.

A forum on the development of cultural tourism in Vietnam will be held on the sidelines of the fair, together with tourism promotional programs introducing attractive cultural tours to Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Thai Nguyen in Vietnam as well as Nepal, Indonesia, and Taiwan (China).