Opening the "door" to cultural tourism.

Many potentials and advantages

In the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam's Cultural Industries to 2020, with a vision to 2030, cultural tourism is identified as one of the 13 sectors to be promoted. The strategy also sets a specific target for 2030: cultural tourism will account for 15-20% of the total $40 billion in revenue from tourists.

Assessing the potential and advantages of Vietnam's cultural tourism, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) Pham Van Thuy stated that Vietnam has 32 World Heritage sites recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), including 2 natural heritage sites and 1 mixed heritage site, and 29 cultural heritage sites; along with thousands of historical relics and the diverse cultural identities of 54 ethnic groups. Tourism based on the strengths of culture, nature, identity, and customs of ethnic groups can bring uniqueness to Vietnam. This is the basis for creating unique tourism products that are highly competitive with other countries in the region.

According to Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, along with other types of tourism such as ecotourism, sports tourism, medical tourism, and adventure tourism, cultural tourism is considered a unique product of developing countries, attracting many international tourists. The most attractive aspect for international visitors is the cultural identity of the countries reflected in their tourism products. Tourists coming to Vietnam often seek new and unique experiences, opportunities to explore local culture, immerse themselves in the local culture, and enjoy the beauty of the region.

Currently, many localities have developed distinctive cultural tourism destinations that attract tourists, such as Hanoi, Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Hoi An (Quang Nam), and Hue (Thua Thien Hue). In Hanoi, the Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, Dang Huong Giang, affirmed that cultural tourism is the greatest strength of the capital's tourism and also the main development focus of Hanoi city.

It requires cooperation from many sides.

Despite being recognized as having great potential and advantages for developing cultural tourism compared to many countries in the region, experts believe that Vietnam's cultural tourism still has many limitations and has not fully exploited its rich resources.

Having worked in the tourism sector for over 20 years, Lux Group Chairman Pham Ha believes that Vietnam possesses many unique resources, distinct from other countries in the region and the world, with four major resources being culture, nature, cuisine, and people. However, Vietnam has not yet successfully utilized these factors to develop a cultural industry like South Korea and Japan. According to Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Vietnam Institute for Tourism Development Research, in Vietnam, cultural tourism products are still slow to innovate, lack creativity, have duplication between localities and regions, lack uniformity, and have not created sustainable, high-quality tourism products.

The recent success of cultural tourism products in Hanoi, such as night tours at Hoa Lo Prison, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, and literary tours at the Vietnam Literature Museum, is a strong testament to the fact that leveraging culture to develop tourism can create significant appeal for visitors. For example, the night tour at Hoa Lo Prison requires bookings two months in advance. Similarly, the night tour at Thang Long Imperial Citadel attracts 300 visitors every weekend evening. However, not every locality has been able to fully exploit its cultural value to create an attractive tourism brand.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Hong Long, Head of the Tourism Department, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), for cultural tourism to truly connect with tourists, localities and destinations need to be creative in how they tell their stories. They need to "breathe life" into existing historical sites and heritage with many new experiences.

Having directly developed numerous cultural tourism products in Hanoi and other localities, the Chairman of the Hanoi Tourism Association, Phung Quang Thang, believes that for sustainable cultural tourism development, in addition to the participation of local authorities and investment from businesses, the involvement of the people plays a crucial role in preserving cultural identity, making the area attractive, friendly, and encouraging tourists to return. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on promoting, educating, and training people to participate in building cultural products.

At the Vietnam International Tourism Fair - VITM Hanoi 2023, held from April 13th to 16th, the theme "Cultural Tourism" was the main focus, guiding localities and businesses to concentrate on investing in and developing sustainable tourism. Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, Vu The Binh, stated that to attract international tourists in the future, the tourism industry needs to focus on developing new products based on exploiting the unique values ​​of traditional culture and cultural heritage of Vietnam.

Ha Mai Trinh