Tuan said, during a meeting in Hanoi, that besides the new visa policy, the industry is going to launch more promotional campaigns in an attempt to increase foreign arrivals from the current 5.7 million to 8 million by the end of the year.
His agency is consulting foreign agents to make more videos introducing Vietnam and broadcast them on international TV channels.
He said a 30-second promo video is almost complete and will be aired 300 times from October 20 on a UK channel.
The foreign ministry last month launched the seven-minute video “Welcome to Vietnam” featuring many famous sights in Vietnam but industry insiders say more efforts are needed.
Tuan said the industry will also follow examples in Thailand and Malaysia to promote Vietnam on YouTube and Facebook.
According to statistics from the tourism administration, foreign arrivals dropped 5.9 percent in the first nine months, compared to the same period last year, mostly due to falling numbers from nearby visitor markets including China, Thailand and Cambodia.
But tourism revenues in the period still increased by 2.8 percent to VND270 trillion (US$12 billion), thanks to a 9 percent increase in local tourists.
Tuan said the drop in arrivals from neighboring countries is not a concerning factor as those tourists usually do not stay long, and thus do not contribute significantly to the tourism industry.