This was one of the insightful comments from representatives of tourism businesses following a recent survey in Gia Lai with a famtrip delegation from the Vietnam National Tourism Administration. The commenter was Ms. Phan Yen Ly, Deputy Director of Penguin Travel Service Joint Stock Company (Ho Chi Minh City).
Innovating in communication, preserving identity.
The famtrip delegation surveyed many tourist destinations in the western region of Gia Lai province. While highly appreciating the potential and advantages of Gia Lai tourism, Ms. Phan Yen Ly also emphasized the need to create unique tourism products to provide memorable experiences for visitors.
This is a matter of great concern, given that many existing products in Gia Lai and some neighboring provinces like Quang Ngai and Dak Lak are very similar and lack differentiation.
One of the solutions suggested by Ms. Ly is to innovate communication and marketing storytelling by using engaging short videos; and building interesting culinary stories unique to Gia Lai.
“For example, we could organize a competition where every travel enthusiast, professional traveler, or tourism communicator could create short video clips to participate. From there, we would select the best quality clips for promotional purposes. We need to carefully research the communication story in the context of Gia Lai's tourism brand positioning, and at the same time guide ethnic minority communities on how to communicate that message so they can participate in its implementation,” Ms. Ly suggested.
Ms. Hong Thu Mai, Head of Service and Product Supply Department of Saigontourist Travel Service Co., Ltd. (Ho Chi Minh City), also expressed her impression after the survey trip on the potential of ecotourism and cultural tourism in Gia Lai province, especially community tourism models that bring direct benefits to local people.
Recalling a survey trip a few months ago to the East Gia Lai area, Ms. Mai said: "I found the traditional plays, folk songs, and martial arts of Binh Dinh to be very good, very distinctly Central Vietnamese. And now, coming to West Gia Lai, a land rich in Central Highlands identity, we must immediately think about a multi-regional product within the new area after the merger."
However, to create distinctive tourism products, Ms. Mai suggested preserving cultural identity as a unique feature in the tourism strategy; while also focusing on improving service quality and infrastructure at destinations (toilets and some basic amenities) to ensure safety and convenience for tourists.
The quality of human resources needs to be improved.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Head of Group Tourism Sales Department of Viet Global Tourism Joint Stock Company and Lecturer at the Faculty of Tourism, Hanoi University of Industry, proposed several solutions for sustainable tourism development. She emphasized the crucial role of tourism human resource training through policies that encourage children of ethnic minorities to study and then return to participate in local tourism development. She also suggested a collaboration between non-governmental organizations and training institutions to directly train local people in tourism skills.
Some members of the famtrip delegation also suggested that Gia Lai should focus on adding interactive experiential activities for tourists; developing seasonal tourism products characteristic of the Central Highlands such as the cloud-hunting season, the coffee flower blooming season, the wild sunflower season, etc.; and developing "green tourism" linked to livelihood development.
As the host, Mr. Nguyen Pham Kien Trung, Vice Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial Tourism Association, stated that the contributions from the famtrip members were invaluable. In particular, the need to develop unique stories about Gia Lai tourism was a "golden suggestion" to create differentiation and appeal.
However, Mr. Trung acknowledged that the major problem is the severe shortage of professional tour guides who are capable of telling stories and providing insightful explanations about local culture and history. Training and improving the quality of human resources in the tourism sector is therefore a top priority.
On the "silver sea" side, it's noteworthy that Lonely Planet travel magazine (Australia) has just included Quy Nhon in its list of the world's top 25 destinations for 2026. Therefore, according to Mr. Trung, it's necessary to leverage existing brand values to activate and use them as a spearhead to generate resources, before connecting the sea and the forest.
“The Gia Lai Provincial Tourism Association is planning to hold several thematic meetings with provincial leaders and leaders of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to propose coordinated solutions, especially in investing in tourism infrastructure to ensure it is in line with the landscape and culture; and developing policies for training tourism human resources,” Mr. Trung said.
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/dinh-vi-thuong-hieu-du-lich-gia-lai-post570674.html
