Hue tourism still faces many challenges

Many challenges

Talking about MICE tourism (a type of tourism combining conferences, seminars, exhibitions, event organization, and corporate incentive travel for employees and partners), Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thanh, Director of Dai Bang Tourism Joint Stock Company, expressed regret. He said: “If in the past, Hue was always the top choice in the region to organize MICE, now it is gradually losing its position, showing signs of slowing down compared to neighboring provinces and cities. Room capacity at accommodation facilities in Hue is still quite small. Meanwhile, many groups of thousands of guests, if divided into different hotels, they do not like it. Recently, guests have flocked to Da Nang, Hoi An and MICE tourism here has developed, but I feel sorry for Hue”.

Room capacity at hotels and accommodation facilities is not only a barrier to the development of MICE tourism. In fact, during peak tourist seasons or when Thua Thien Hue has major events and festivals, the story of difficulty in finding accommodation is complained by many tourists.

The above problem is just one of many challenges that Hue tourism is facing in the development process. Recently, the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee held a meeting to listen to reports on the current situation and solutions to rectify and restore urban order, ensure safety for tourists, and the tourism environment at tourist attractions and relics in Hue city. Many problems were raised, including the thin tourism workforce, incomplete infrastructure, overload at tourist attractions, or the problem of "touts" and soliciting tourists... still existing.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism, is concerned that many tourism businesses are still seriously lacking in human resources when they resume operations after a long period of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to some units and some activities not being as orderly and disciplined as before. In addition, in practice, the qualifications and historical understanding of some tour guides are also obstacles.

According to the leader of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, there are still difficulties when the relic protection force faces "brokers". These subjects often solicit tourists to buy sesame candy, shrimp paste... In particular, when tourists are listening to the tour guide introducing the relic site, they are interrupted, shortened, shortening the time for tourists to visit and experience the tourist site to use the services of the brokers who have been linked and pre-arranged... This makes tourists dissatisfied. From there, it affects the image and tourism environment of heritage sites and relics.

Through a quick survey with a number of tourists, the plus point that visitors give to Hue is enjoying the cuisine , diverse dishes, cheap prices. However, an accompanying concern is food safety and hygiene. In February 2023, the story of a famous TikToker (tentatively understood as a user of the social network tiktok) posting a clip reflecting on the presence of flies in food at a snail restaurant in Hue City led to many mixed comments in the online community. Many opinions also complained that some restaurants in Hue did not pay close attention to hygiene, which more or less affected the image of Hue tourism.

Creating an attractive tourism environment

Undeniably, Hue tourism is developing day by day and becoming a key economic sector, contributing greatly to the socio-economic development of the province.

However, in the context of development, pressure and challenges will increase and the problems and challenges mentioned above can become serious, greatly affecting the province's tourism, causing Hue tourism to gradually lose its advantages.

To solve the problems of Hue tourism, not only the role of the tourism industry is needed, but also the cooperation of many departments, branches and the awareness of the people in preserving and promoting the beauty of tourism in the ancient capital. Thereby, together creating a safe, friendly and attractive tourism environment. The functional departments and branches need to focus on investing in infrastructure serving tourism; including lighting for tourist boat activities. In addition, it is necessary to re-plan the hotline to connect with departments, branches and branches; arrange hotline signs regularly at tourist destinations for people to reflect and promptly resolve.

The province also needs to continue to have appropriate mechanisms and policies to attract investment in tourism based on the potential, characteristics and strengths of tourism in the ancient capital. In addition, functional units need to develop many solutions to improve business capacity and product and service quality, in accordance with the needs and fluctuations of the tourism market.

Statistics for the first 5 months of 2023 show that the number of visitors to Hue reached 1,279,503, an increase of more than 116% over the same period last year. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at VND 2,942,434 billion, an increase of more than 163% over the same period last year. It is estimated that in the first 6 months of 2023, the number of visitors to Hue is estimated at 1.6 million, an increase of more than 129% over the same period. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at VND 3,500 billion.

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