Communications are the best way to promote the country and its people, attracting international visitors to the country (Photo: Collaborator of VietnamPlus) Hanoi, (VNA) – President of the Vietnam Tourism Association (VTA) Vu The Binh said communications in the tourism sector are disjointed and ineffective. Combing the tourism message under one theme or direction is the best way to have success.
Binh, who has over 50 years of experience in the tourism sector, shared his view on the work with VietnamPlus.
Disconnected communication activities
Reporter: Fluctuations in world tourism will constantly affect Vietnam’s policy, so it is important to propagate changes in the country’s policies. How do you assess communication work on policy in Vietnam?
Vu The Binh: Tourism in Vietnam is undergoing various changes, especially after COVID 19. Government policies, business operations and the opening of new destinations are changing. To bring information on those changes to society, communications in tourism are very important.
Until now, communication activities in tourism have been conducted without any coordination or orientation, thus reducing the overall impact.
President of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh (Photo: VietnamPlus) The new visa policy is an example. This is a very positive policy which will produce great benefits. However, the benefits will not come immediately. It will require preparations and awareness for the people to know about it.
But some people expect that the impact should be seen right away, and some others think it would not bring about any benefit. So, communications are needed to connect social forces and economic entities in carrying out the policy to drive the growth of tourism.
Tourism itself is a combination of various industries, so if each industry only promotes itself, the overall impact will be reduced.
Reporter: There is a viewpoint that communication work in tourism is going behind instead of leading or anticipating developments in the sector. What do you think about this view?
Vu The Binh: This viewpoint is correct; we are very slow. Sometimes communication work is inclined to criticise and cover negative things rather than the positive. Although this is a normal thing, but if besides criticising the bad things, communication work can suggest solutions and also cover good examples and practices, it would be much better.
Tourism products imbued with traditional culture appeal to visitors (Photo: VietnamPlus) We hope that people that work in communications will take a more objective perspective and make clearer assessments mentioning both positive and negative aspects of the sector.
There have been instances in tourism when public opinion focused on small errors and overlooked the combined efforts of the sector. Thus, many working in the sector lose motivation in the face of negative messaging.
Tourism is an economic sector, but it contains a massive cultural factor. I think communications should pay first attention to positive things to help promote tourism. This will serve to encourage both businesses and people to join hands in developing this green economic sector.
Many other countries offer wonderful tours at much more reasonable prices than those of Vietnam, because the involved businesses and services providers share benefits and difficulties. Vietnam is not able to do this, even though the tourism sector used to discuss this many years ago, because we lack connection. The tourism sector still struggles to put together strong promotional campaigns to attract visitors. Promotional here does not mean cutting prices, instead it means improving service quality to satisfy customers, make them feel their money is worth it.
Mua Cave is among popular destinations thanks to positive communication work (Photo: Collaborator of VietnamPlus) Localities should promote tourism publicity campaigns
Reporter: Tourism communications mainly focuses on overall policies and the number of visitors, while there is little information on policies of localities and specific destinations. What do you think localities should do to increase awareness of their destinations?
Vu The Binh: I think there is plenty of work for localities to do in this regard. Local administrations play a very important role in tourism development, as they have direct management of destinations, tourism companies and local people. If they neglect communication on local destinations, how can tourism develop.
Communication work of localities should cover specific and detailed activities, as well as support policies for tourism.
Among 63 provinces and centrally run cities in Vietnam, some have offered very supportive policies for tourism. For example, Binh Dinh grants direct support for businesses to attend promotional events both in and out of the country, giving 30 million VND to a firm each trip. Recently, the People’s Council of Bac Giang province issued a resolution on supporting tourism with specific stipulations for villages engaged in community-based tourism, homestays, and tourism sites.
I believe that localities can only develop tourism with concrete, clear and easy-to-implement policies.
Reporter: Thank you for sharing your view./.
