Using cultural industry as a lever for Ninh Binh tourism to "take off"

(Dan Tri) - On the morning of May 9, at the workshop "Using cultural industry as a lever for Ninh Binh tourism to take off", experts together gave advice to help Ninh Binh tourism reach new heights, becoming a leading destination in ASEAN.

The workshop was attended by leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, UNESCO Office in Vietnam, Vietnam National Tourism Administration, Korea Tourism Organization in Vietnam...

Delegates attending the workshop "Using cultural industry as a lever for Ninh Binh tourism to take off" (Photo: Thai Ba).

Mr. Nguyen Cao Son, Vice Chairman of Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee, said that Ninh Binh is an ancient land with diverse natural and cultural resources on a unique landscape, crystallizing the rich history of human culture and Vietnam. Based on that advantage, Ninh Binh has strongly entered the "smokeless industry".

The Vice Chairman of Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee emphasized that with the participation of the entire political system, Ninh Binh tourism has become one of the top 10 destinations in Vietnam and has been recognized with many prestigious awards.

Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex was voted as an "influential destination in the world". Thereby, in 2024, Ninh Binh welcomed over 8.7 million visitors, exceeding the plan by 16%. Revenue reached over VND 9,100 billion, an increase of over 40% compared to 2023. GRDP value of the service industry in 2024 reached over VND 22,000 billion, an increase of 9.5% compared to 2023.

"For Ninh Binh tourism to "take off", there needs to be a comprehensive and synchronous development strategy, not only exploiting resources but also closely linked to preserving and promoting cultural values. Therefore, the Provincial Party Committee has issued Resolution 07 clearly defining the goal of turning tourism into a spearhead economy by 2030, contributing 8% of GRDP.

The workshop brought together experts' opinions, which will be the direction of appropriate policies and strategies for Ninh Binh to become a unique cultural and tourism center, a scientific basis for completing the goal of Ninh Binh becoming a centrally-governed city by 2035 with the characteristics of a Millennium Heritage City and a creative city," said Mr. Son.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Son, Vice Chairman of Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee, spoke at the workshop (Photo: Thai Ba).

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Phan Tam shared that in recent years, Ninh Binh tourism has developed strongly. In the coming time, Ninh Binh tourism needs to continue to make a breakthrough in quality, cultural factors must be identified as the core of all strategies, especially cultural tourism.

Mr. Phan Tam added that the story of Ninh Binh is not about what the locality has, but how to make the tourism brand competitive, widespread, and reach international level. We need to see culture as a special resource that can be regenerated, generate long-term profits, have economic and spiritual value, and create unique value for tourism products.

"To make the cultural industry a lever to help tourism "take off", localities need to create favorable policies to attract the private economy, while focusing on digital transformation, digitizing heritage, and virtual museums.

Besides, digital transformation in culture is inevitable, so that the value of heritage goes beyond the local scope. Ninh Binh tourism industry not only focuses on measuring the number of visitors and revenue, but also needs to build a set of measurements for cultural tourism development index, visitor experience, and resource exploitation efficiency," said the Deputy Minister.

According to Mr. Johnathan Baker, Chief Representative of UNESCO Office in Vietnam, UNESCO is committed to accompanying the provincial leaders and people of Ninh Binh to realize the vision of preserving the precious values ​​of World Heritage for future generations.

Mr. Johnathan Baker, Chief Representative of UNESCO Office in Vietnam, offers advice to help Ninh Binh tourism "take off" (Photo: Thai Ba).

This special land is not only honored for its outstanding global values, but also for its extremely vibrant landscapes and local communities deeply attached to its natural and cultural resources. However, like many other World Heritage Sites, Trang An is facing the challenge of balancing tourism development and heritage conservation.

The question is not only how to attract more tourists, but also how tourism can nurture living heritage, contribute to improving the quality of life of the community and preserve the cultural identity of Trang An.

Investing in culture must go hand in hand with preserving culture. Heritage and ecosystems are precious and finite assets, and once damaged, they are very difficult to fully restore.

"I would like to propose some strategic directions to promote creative cultural industries, taking advantage of Trang An heritage as a foundation for innovation and economic growth, including: Developing thematic cultural tourism routes and rural tourism, to encourage visitors to explore Ninh Binh's vibrant heritage beyond familiar destinations;

Promote community-led cultural tourism cooperative models that ensure equitable benefit sharing; establish heritage incubators to support entrepreneurship among youth, women, ethnic minorities, artisans and local businesses operating in the cultural industry; and empower youth through oral history recording, digital storytelling and leadership training in ecotourism,” said Johnathan Baker.

Many experts, researchers on culture and tourism; managers, local authorities and businesses have also discussed and offered ideas to help bring Ninh Binh tourism to new heights, "take off", towards the goal of becoming a leading destination in ASEAN.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/dua-cong-nghiep-van-hoa-thanh-don-bay-de-du-lich-ninh-binh-cat-canh-20250509113811808.htm