Transviet to open RI offices

SURABAYA (JP) : Transviet Tours, a member of Vietnam's TransViet Travel Group will open representative offices in Indonesia this year to promote the country's tourism to affluent Indonesians.

Nguyen Hai, the chairman of the Vietnamese travel group, said here on Thursday that the representative offices would be opened in Jakarta and Surabaya.

"We will probably become the first Vietnamese travel agent in Indonesia. We see a big potential market for tourists from Indonesia," said Hai, who is now in Surabaya preparing for the opening of his company's branches.

At present, Transviet has representatives in the UK, USA, Israel, the Philippines, Japan and Thailand.

Some 2 million travelers visited Vietnam last year, mostly coming from the United States, Japan and Taiwan. The number of Indonesian visitors reached 3,000 people last year. They mainly visited Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Hai said that the representative offices in Jakarta and Surabaya would offer attractive tourism packages focusing on 12 tourist destinations.

With the more aggressive campaign, the number of Indonesians visiting Vietnam was expected to increase to about 5,000 people this year, he said.

Hai said that his office would also cooperate with Indonesian travel agencies in promoting Vietnamese tourist destinations in Indonesia. (nur)