Border provinces and 60 internationaltravel agents from southern Kien Giang to northern Lang Son provincehave attended the first seminar on border tourism development in LangSon.

Border tourism plays an important role inthe nation, as it has 4,550km of land border and 25 border provinces,lined with 42 international and major border gates, said the seminar.

However, it said, border tourism development has failed to match thecountry’s potential as the number of international tourists coming toVietnam through its border gates represents only around 20 percent ofthe country’s total.

This is attributed to limited investment in tourism development,promotion activities and personnel development in border provinces,poor tourism infrastructure and complicated entry and exit procedures,said the seminar.

The participants assessed the situation and solutions to promote anddevelop border tourism together with maintaining defence security.

They also put forward solutions to reform entry and exit procedures atthe border gates as well as orientations and policies to develop thetraffic infrastructure in Vietnam’s border provinces.

Lang Son, Lao Cai, Quang Ninh and Dien Bien in the north, Kon Tum inthe central region and Tay Ninh and An Giang in the south and a numberof international travel agents shared their experiences in organisingtrans-border tours through border gates.

The seminar confirmed the significance as well as the considerablepotential of an international land border gate system for tourismactivities.

It suggested due attention be paid to solutions to policy mechanism,tourism planning, infrastructure investment and the management ofcommunity tourism in border-adjacent provinces./.