Souvenirs need care

Every year, Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa welcomes a large number of tourists , but the production and trade of souvenirs in the coastal city still have many limitations. To improve this, the Provincial People's Committee will soon organize a contest to design Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism gift products.

Improvements in display space

One afternoon in mid-September, Ms. Jung So Min and her boyfriend (a tourist from Korea) visited the Ot Hiem souvenir shop (30 Nguyen Thien Thuat, Nha Trang City). The souvenirs here are arranged quite beautifully, the staff is quite friendly. After the initial greeting, the shop staff let customers freely look at the items without pestering them like the shops in the market. The souvenirs are priced so customers can choose things that fit their budget such as: traditional Vietnamese conical hats, porcelain pictures of young girls, postcards printed with beautiful Nha Trang landscapes, bamboo trays, straw bags, brocade items... For only 20,000 VND, visitors can buy a small, pretty postcard printed with pictures of Tram Huong Tower, Ponagar Tower... as a gift for relatives. After viewing, Ms. Jung So Min chose to buy a small, pretty cyclo to mark her trip to Nha Trang.

Jung So Min and her boyfriend look at souvenirs at the Chili Pepper souvenir shop.

Opened in May, the souvenir and handicraft area on the 5th floor of the Gold Coast Shopping Center has an area of ^3,200m2 , currently has 7 souvenir stalls along with Song Concept (a complex of unique handicraft and recycled fashion products from recycled materials and products extracted from nature). Here, there are many souvenirs for sale, from those made of bamboo, coconut shells, seashells, to handicrafts made of lacquer, ceramics, shoes, straw bags... The stalls are arranged very reasonably, beautifully exuding the traditional flavor of Vietnam. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lanh, founder of Song Concept, the weakest point in Vietnamese souvenirs is not the quality of the goods but the living space of the souvenirs. Souvenirs will increase in value a lot when they are beautifully displayed, when they "live" in their right cultural space. Therefore, when the Gold Coast Shopping Center opened a souvenir and handicraft display area, she came up with the idea to organize Song Concept to sell souvenirs. She also regularly organizes workshops on zither, teaching how to draw conical hats, and painting... to honor and introduce traditional Vietnamese culture to tourists and locals.

Lacquered souvenirs at Co Bamboo shop (Gold Coast Shopping Center)

Lacquerware souvenirs at Co Bamboo shop (Gold Coast Shopping Center).

Need unique samples

In addition to the above two locations, in Nha Trang today there are many souvenir shops along Hung Vuong, Nguyen Thien Thuat, Biet Thu streets... and the most is Dam market. The souvenir items are more diverse than before. However, the imprint of Nha Trang souvenirs is still quite faint. In addition to souvenirs made from seashells, snail shells, postcards, magnets printed with Nha Trang landscapes..., it is almost difficult for tourists to find unique souvenirs of Nha Trang. Therefore, there are quite a lot of tourists visiting souvenir shops but the number of customers buying is not much. "We want to find items that can remind us of Nha Trang but not many. The souvenirs here are quite similar to souvenirs in Da Nang , the only difference is the printed words, engraved names of destinations...", Mr. Robert Anke (German tourist) commented after visiting some souvenir shops at Dam market.

Ms. Yang Song Hee and her mother-in-law made lanterns at Potique Hotel as souvenirs to mark their trip to Nha Trang.

Tourism is a comprehensive economic sector, in addition to accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment services, souvenir business also brings in a significant source of revenue if we know how to invest and exploit. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Khanh Hoa welcomed 7 million overnight guests/year. In the first 8 months of 2023, the whole province welcomed more than 5 million overnight guests, including more than 1.2 million international visitors. With a large number of tourists, the opportunity to produce and trade souvenirs is huge, unfortunately due to lack of investment and not being given due attention, so far the province's tourism has not been exploited much. At the summary of the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Sea Festival 2023, Mr. Nguyen Tan Tuan - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee once again expressed regret about the limitation of souvenirs with the characteristics of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa. “If there are souvenirs bearing the symbol of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Sea Festival, tourists will definitely buy them for their relatives. If we do not have such gifts, we will not only lose the opportunity to make money, but also lose the opportunity to promote the image of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa to the world,” he said. Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Tan Tuan has assigned the Department of Tourism to preside over and advise on a plan to organize a contest to design Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism gift models to serve the province's foreign affairs, while contributing to improving the quality of souvenirs of Agarwood tourism.

Regarding this issue, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thanh - Director of the Department of Tourism said that the department has drafted a plan to organize a design contest for Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism gift products and is collecting opinions from relevant departments and branches to supplement and complete the plan to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for promulgation. Hopefully, when this contest is organized, the Khanh Hoa tourism industry will have more typical souvenir product designs to serve the needs of tourists buying gifts and souvenirs.

XUAN THANH

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