With a view to boosting the protection of international and local tourists, the Vietnam Tourism Association has proposed that the Government allow the establishment of tourism police.

>> Vietnam must have tourism police: official

The proposal was made by the association at the conference on responsible tourism policy jointly organized by the European Union (EU) and the Vietnam Tourism Administration in central Da Nang City on Thursday. Tourism police should be set up first in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to strengthen the protection of travelers and tourist activities. The association also suggested that the Government allow the re-establishment of tourist inspectors to ensure the protection of legitimate tourists’ rights and interests.     Such a proposal is not new. At an online conference held on June 6, 2013 by the Government’s Steering Board for Tourism, La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism said that Vietnam must have a tourism police force in order to better protect its international and domestic tourists. Khanh said that the city has set up a unit to protect tourists in the city, but this force is not enough as the number of international arrivals is on the rise, while many cases in which tourists have been robbed or ripped off have been reported. Therefore, the city needs to have tourism police to help resolve the issue, he said, adding that other neighboring countries, such as Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Singapore, have already established such forces, and they do a good job of protecting tourists.