At a music show in Hoi An (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – With cultural richness and a vast array of tangible andintangible cultural heritages, Vietnam is endowed with abundant resources forthe development of cultural tourism.
The development of tourism associated with the preservation and promotion ofcultural heritage values has long been a long-standing policy of the VietnameseParty and State. Even under the Strategy for the Development of CulturalIndustries in Vietnam until 2020 with a vision to 2030, cultural tourism isaffirmed as one of the cultural industries that requires investment anddevelopment. The strategy targets that cultural tourism will account for 15-20%of the total revenue of 40 billion USD from tourism by 2030.
Inrecent years, Vietnam has been honoured with the prestigious World TravelAwards (WTA) as a top world heritage destination, a leading culturaldestination in Asia, and a top culinary destination in Asia. Many culturaltourism products and destinations with world cultural heritages have becomesignificant highlights on the Vietnamese tourism map, such as the Trang AnScenic Landscape Complex in Ninh Binh, the Complex of Hue Monuments in ThuaThien-Hue, My Son Sanctuary and Hoi An Ancient City in Quang Nam.
However,experts said Vietnam has yet to have quality cultural tourism products thatmatch its potential.
Dr.Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research,said cultural tourism products in Vietnam are often repetitive, limited inquality, lacking creativity and differentiation among regions and localitiesnationwide.
Vu VanTuyen, CEO of Travelogy, said there are three major ways to increase the levelof creativity in the building and marketing of cultural tourism products,including reproduction, simulation, and narration which aim to create moreimpressions and deeper experiences for tourists regarding the type of tourismproduct, through the use of imagery, models, stories, and historical culturallegends, whether real or fictional, in a reasonable manner.
A night tour of Thang Long Imperial Citadel (Photo: VNA)
Inorder to effectively tap a tourism product, the involvement of the destination,local authorities, cultural and historical experts and tour agents is needed,he said.
From amacro perspective, Tuan said in order to develop cultural tourism, it isessential to pay special attention to conservation and restoration efforts topromote the values of cultural heritages, shaping and building the brand ofeach locality and the nation based on existing cultural foundations to attractthe attention of investors and tourists both at home and abroad.
It isalso important to upgrade tourism-related infrastructure and technicalfacilities, particularly in regions rich in cultural tourism resources but withslower socio-economic development. Additionally, it is crucial to uphold therole of the community and community culture in tourism development, ensuring abalanced benefit from tourism activities for the community, he said./.
