Quang Binh-Quang Tri Tourism: Opening up new horizons - Last article: Positioning the regional tourism brand

>>> Lesson 1: Branding problem after merger

>>> Article 2: Opportunity for a colorful destination

Space

The “Wonderful Heritage Area” connection was established in 2022, including 5 localities in the Central region: Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang and Quang Nam. The goal is to connect natural and cultural heritages, creating an attractive inter-regional destination. Although in recent years, the local tourism industry has organized many programs to promote and advertise products, this connection still lacks coherence and is not very effective.

One of the reasons is the lack of synchronization in communication strategies and tourism promotion among localities. There is still loose connection, lack of specific tour products, lack of effective operating mechanism and especially lack of a specialized department to coordinate communication and develop the market. These are the reasons why the effectiveness of this linkage model is still not really commensurate with its potential and development advantages.

One of the major obstacles for provinces like Quang Binh and Quang Tri in the past was the fragmentation in promotion strategies. Each province has its own unique features but is not large enough to create a push. When merging, if an overall brand for the destination can be built, combining key products, the momentum will increase many times over.

Merging provinces is a golden moment for the tourism industry to overcome old limits and reposition itself on the tourism map.

Mr. Le Luu Dung, Director of Jungle Boss Company Limited (Quang Binh), commented that it is difficult for businesses to create a push on their own without synchronous coordination in policies and communications. Regional linkages will only be effective when there are clear products, the role of each locality is specifically positioned and there must be cooperation from both the state and the private sector. “The challenge lies in the differences in culture and business practices between existing businesses in the two provinces. It takes time and effort to unify the operating environment, while businesses must constantly innovate and improve product quality to survive in the new competitive environment,” Mr. Dung affirmed.

Rebranding

Returning to the story of whether or not the Quang Binh tourism brand will be lost when the province merges and if the name "Quang Binh" is no longer on the administrative map, how to preserve the values ​​that have been built over the past two decades? The answer lies in smart positioning. The Quang Binh tourism brand has been clearly defined on the internet environment with keywords such as "Quang Binh tourism", "Phong Nha", "Son Doong"... Therefore, preserving the name "Quang Binh" in the media is extremely necessary in the transition period. "We can absolutely continue to use the phrase "Quang Binh" as a brand associated with the product. The Internet allows us to flexibly change content without incurring large costs. The important thing is to maintain the brand presence intelligently and continuously", Director of Netin Company Limited Tran Xuan Cuong shared.

Quang Binh - Quang Tri belongs to the "Wonderful Heritage Area" association, participating in booths promoting local tourism at tourism fairs.

Along with that, the tourism industry needs to synchronously implement the updating of new names on tourist maps, international booking websites and redesign the brand identity associated with cultural and natural heritage. Strengthening domestic communication, organizing large-scale events and festivals to connect the community is also a necessary solution to keep "Quang Binh" alive in the minds of people and tourists.

Tourism businesses also suggested that the name “Quang Binh” should be maintained in communication campaigns for at least 3-5 years after the name change. It is necessary to redesign the brand identity of the new province to both honor the old values ​​and pave the way for the new image. All of these things need to be done quickly and synchronously even before the province merger takes place to avoid creating a disconnect.

Methodical communication, long-term strategy

The new journey of Quang Binh-Quang Tri tourism is not simply about tourism, but about branding, creating emotions, and building identity. Two lands, two personalities, seemingly separate but can be connected to create a new look for Central Vietnam tourism. The current strength is that Quang Binh has a good "identity" with majestic natural images, a world-class cave system, while Quang Tri has a deep heritage of memories and emotional historical factors.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Oanh, Director of Amazing English Tour Company (Quang Tri) said: “Repositioning the brand needs to start from the roots of identity: Not just combining two provinces into one, but also telling a common, consistent and emotional story. I think we should choose the direction of “Land of memories and discovery”. Tourism is no longer about seeing and returning, but a journey to find yourself through soulful destinations. The new province needs to invest in building a youthful, dynamic image, while maintaining the unique qualities of each region to create curiosity and love from domestic and foreign tourists”.

“There needs to be a clear and regular coordination mechanism between businesses and management agencies in building communication campaigns. Businesses have practical experience with customers and understand the market, while the state has the power to communicate policies and regional connections. If both sides sit down together, build a new tourism map, unify messages and share communication budgets, it will certainly create a stronger and more effective wave of promotion than working individually as it is now,” suggested Nguyen Thi Hai Oanh, Director of Amazing English Tour Company.

The merger of provinces is not just a simple administrative change, but an opportunity to comprehensively restructure the tourism value chain. Instead of being two small “satellites”, Quang Binh and Quang Tri can now become a new development pole, capable of competing with strong tourism centers if they know how to join forces to build a common brand. To position a tourism brand cannot be a short-term campaign.

According to Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong, Director of Netin Company Limited, to be successful, it is necessary to form two provincial advisory councils. In which, the tourism development advisory council is to advise on policies and product development orientation. The tourism marketing advisory council is to build national and international promotional campaigns. At the same time, it is necessary to promote the socialization of promotional activities such as organizing famtrip and presstrip programs, inviting KOLs and KOCs to experience reality and communicating on social networks.

When one door closes, another horizon opens. The merger of Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces, although still having many concerns, is also a golden moment for the tourism industry to overcome old limitations and reposition itself on the tourism map. To do that, it is impossible to stop at individual promotions and seasonal advertising, but requires a systematic, long-term and professional strategy, associated with the unique identity and strengths of the new land. If it knows how to overcome the "administrative aggregation" mentality, the new land can completely shape its own tourism identity, deep enough to contemplate, different enough to attract visitors and brave enough to compete.

Dieu Huong

Source: https://baoquangbinh.vn/phong-su/202505/du-lich-quang-binh-quang-tri-rong-mo-chan-troi-moi-bai-cuoi-dinh-vi-thuong-hieu-du-lich-vung-2226308/