About 85,000 Indian tourists came to Vietnam last year, while about 20,000 Vietnamese tourists traveled to India. Those numbers were far below the two countries’ tourism potential.

Speaking at the conference, Indian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Smita Pant said the Indian government will continue to promote religious and health tourism programs and offer short-term visas for Vietnamese tourists to India. Direct flights between Vietnam and India operated by Vietjet Air and Air India are expected to boost travel between the two countries. Since the broadcast of the TV series “Ganges River Divine” in Vietnam in 2007, Vietnamese people have showed greater interest in Indian tourism.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said: “Vietnam Airline and Vietjet Air operate direct flights to India. It’s a positive factor in tourism growth. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will work closely with those airlines to launch promotion programs, attend events in India, and invite Indian travel agencies and media to Vietnam to get familiar with Vietnamese tourism.”

Religious and medical tourism has flourished in India. India has traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda medicine which have been recognized by many countries. It’s the main medical tourism product India wants to introduce to foreigners.