Hanoi seeks ways to lure more visitors

 
Hanoi (VNA) – Experts and businesses contributed various measures and solutions for the tourism sector of Hanoi to design tourism products to lure more visitors during a conference in the capital city on March 18.

Yet to receive foreign visitors due to COVID-19 impacts, the city is focusing on encouraging local residents to explore various destinations in the city such as high-end hotels, ancient architecture works, eco-tourism sites, trade villages and ancient villages.

Nguyen Le Huong, Deputy General Director of Vietravel held that in the current situation, the tourism sector should pay greater attention to the programme to encourage Vietnamese to travel Vietnam, and Hanoians to tour Hanoi.

She said the tourism potential of the capital city remains under-exploited, such as the beauty of outskirt districts and trade villages.

Agreeing with Huong, Truong Quoc Hung, President of the Hanoi UNESCO Travel Club said that the area of Ba Vi and Soc Son boast great potential for ecotourism as well as cultural, resort and sport tourism, which is suitable to families and groups of tourists. The city should also exploit its strength in spiritual tourism as well, he said.

Many experts asserted that Hanoi has yet to optimise its rich cultural tradition, advising the city to design more new, unique and typical tourism products of this type.

Phung Quang Thang, Director of Hanoi Tourist and President of the Hanoi Travel Association said that travel businesses should review and restructure their products to create more attractive tours.

Thang said that the firms should work more closely with local authorised agencies to focus on developing night tourism, citing statistics showing that 70 percent of people engaging in night tourism activities enjoy food, 20 percent often drink and 10 percent engage in entertainment activities. In his opinion, with its advantages in night tourism such as the two pedestrian areas of the Old Quarter around Hoan Kiem Lake and Trinh Cong Son Street near West Lake, Hanoi’s culinary tourism will help travel firms thrive.

Meanwhile, Chu Ngoc Quan, Vice Director of the Ba Vi National Park said that in February alone, the site saw a 170 percent rise year on year in the number of visitors. The park and nearby Suoi Hai lake can become a great cultural tourism site, he said.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang showed the hope that travel firms will foster connectivity to design attractive tourism products with high quality.

The department has hired a communication consultant agency to help with tourism promotion in different markets, she said, adding that the city plans to organise large-scale events to attract more visitors.

For this year, the Tourism Department decided to concentrate resources on promoting the domestic tourism market and will prepare to welcome international arrivals when conditions allow.

According to the department director, it has compiled three growth scenarios for the sector. One projects an early recovery that allows Hanoi to welcome 15.34 million domestic visitors, double the figure in 2020. An early recovery would mean the normal operation of services and accommodation facilities, with average occupancy exceeding 45 percent.

The sector has also set out an overall target of catering to between 13.16 and 19.4 million tourists, including 10.96 - 15.34 million domestic visitors.

Products to be launched to stimulate domestic tourism will cover key destinations in the capital such as the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Hoa Lo Prison, Duong Lam ancient village, and Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (the Temple of Literature).

The development of culinary, nightlife, and extreme sports tours are also a focus.

Meanwhile, a series of promotional events are scheduled to take place before, during, and after the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) hosted by Vietnam later this year. The event will take place from November 21 to December 2 in Hanoi and 11 neighbouring cities and provinces, including Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh, Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, and Bac Giang./.