Pichai Raktasinha, Director of the TAT office in HCMC, said that TAT was working on the one million tourist program to make the total number of Vietnamese visitors to Thailand and Thai travelers to Vietnam reach that number by 2015.

TAT officials are expected to meet their counterparts at the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) later this year to discuss this program, he said.

“We have not met each other yet,” Pichai said. “We are in the process of arranging meetings where we will discuss and exchange the ideas about how we can do promotions and marketing activities together to reach the target,” he said.

Pichai said the TAT in Bangkok had acknowledged and agreed to move ahead with the program. He stressed it was important for each side to prepare ideas for exchange at an appointment expected for later this year.

Asked whether TAT or VNAT initiated the program, Pichai said this was cooperation efforts of both tourism authorities of Thailand and Vietnam in a move to increase the number of Vietnamese vistors to Thailand and Thai travelers to Vietnam to one million.

Pichai said that Thailand attracted 337,000 Vietnamese tourists last year, and 165,000 in the first half of this year, or down 6.5% compared to the earlier period.

Pichai said he expected that around 300,000 Vietnamese people would visit Thailand this year, a significant number in a tough time when the global tourism industry was still adversely impacted by the current global economic situation and H1N1 flu.

Pichai said TAT launched some packages taking in the islands south of Thailand at the International Travel Expo in HCMC in early October in the hope that more Vietnamese people would come to explore more destinations in Thailand.

Pichai noted the interest of Thai people in traveling to Vietnam had grown significantly in recent years and many were planning to visit destinations in Vietnam and other parts of Indochina.

“Not only Thais but also people from other nations have been aware that Vietnam has become a destination for tourists,” Pichai said.

Around 180,000 Thai people traveled to Vietnam last year, 20,000 higher than in the previous year, and a large number entered Vietnam through border gates in Central Vietnam, according to the TAT office in HCMC.