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The number of representative offices of foreign travel firms in HCMC has fallen to seven from 11 last year as restrictions imposed on representative offices have discouraged them to maintain operations.
An official of the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism told the Daily that the city had nine such offices in 2009 and then 11 in 2010 but some have been closed lately.

“Some representatives told us that the business was not as good as expected, which forced them to close their offices,” he said. He also added that some companies had complained about the complicated procedures in obtaining licenses for representative offices.

The first licenses for foreign travel companies’ representative offices were issued in 2009 after a long time of disruption due to the absence of a circular providing guidance for implementing the Tourism Law.

Under prevalent rules, representative offices of foreign travel firms are not allowed to engage directly in revenue-generating business. These offices can carry out marketing activities to promote their companies’ image in Vietnam.