Connecting cultural industry and sustainable tourism: An inevitable direction in the integration era

On October 30, the International Scientific Conference "Cultural industry with sustainable tourism development in Vietnam in the context of international integration" was held at Tam Chuc Tourist Area, Ninh Binh Province, attracting the participation of many scientists, managers, lecturers and students from many universities at home and abroad.

The workshop was organized by the Vietnam Tourism Training Association (VITEA) under the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) in coordination with a number of partners.

The event created a meaningful scientific forum, demonstrating the deep interest of the research community with more than 200 presentations by experts, scientists, and lecturers from more than 120 universities, colleges, and research institutes nationwide.

Prof. Dr. Dao Manh Hung, Chairman of VITEA (2nd from left) and delegates chaired the Workshop. (Photo: Le Phu)

The close relationship between cultural industry and tourism

In the introductory report, Prof. Dr. Dao Manh Hung, Chairman of VITEA, emphasized the close relationship between cultural industry and tourism.

He said that the cultural industry creates tourism products with national identity, contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of destinations, while tourism is a channel to promote and spread cultural values. These two fields support each other, together promoting creativity, preserving and promoting heritage, towards sustainable development.

Conference scene. (Photo: Le An)

Mr. Hung said that the goal of cultural industry contributing 7% of GDP by 2030 is feasible if Vietnam makes good use of its potential and overcomes weaknesses such as a "thin" data base, low quality human resources, weak technical infrastructure, widespread copyright infringement, and a creative environment lacking effective connections between management agencies, businesses and training institutions.

To overcome this, he proposed that it is necessary to invest heavily in modern cultural infrastructure, cultural centers, theaters, and creative spaces that meet international standards, while at the same time developing digital infrastructure and online platforms for Vietnamese cultural products.

Accordingly, developing cultural industry associated with sustainable tourism is not only a requirement of the times but also a way to help Vietnam build its identity and affirm its position in the international integration process.

Highly appreciating the initiative of VITEA in coordination with domestic and foreign partners to organize the Workshop, Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai, Vice President of VITA, said that the combination of cultural industry and sustainable tourism is an inevitable direction, forming a new value chain contributing to the development of knowledge economy , green growth and preservation of cultural heritage.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai, Vice President of VITA, spoke. (Photo: Le Phu)

This orientation has been clearly shown in many major policies of the Party and State such as Resolution 33-NQ/TW, Cultural Industry Development Strategy to 2030, and Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy to 2030.

However, Mr. Hai also frankly pointed out that in order for the cultural industry to truly become a driving force for sustainable tourism, Vietnam needs to overcome many challenges such as: lack of linkages between industries, limited investment in creative technology, high-quality human resources that do not meet requirements, and shallow commercialization of cultural tourism products.

He proposed five key tasks: Building a cultural industrial ecosystem associated with the local tourism value chain; developing unique cultural tourism, exploiting heritage combined with art, cinema, cuisine, and fashion; promoting digital transformation in promoting culture and tourism; strengthening international cooperation, promoting the image of Vietnam to the world; training and supporting young creative forces, encouraging startups in the field of culture and tourism.

He emphasized that this is an important foundation for the cultural and tourism industries to develop harmoniously, towards a creative, sustainable and unique Vietnam.

Mr. Bui Van Manh, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ninh Binh province, spoke. (Photo: Le Phu)

Speaking on behalf of the locality at the workshop, Mr. Bui Van Manh, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ninh Binh province, said that understanding where the cultural industry starts and what to do is always a big question for each locality.

With abundant available resources, Ninh Binh has recently implemented many methods of developing cultural tourism, considering it as a foundation to promote the cultural industry. The province aims to select the most prominent fields and values ​​to invest first, while developing each cluster and each region with its own strengths.

Currently, Ninh Binh is building a mechanism to encourage and support the organization of large-scale cultural and musical events, and develop a system of unique souvenir products to create a local brand mark.

Mr. Bui Van Manh believes that when each province and city proactively builds its own identity and values, it will create a strong resonance, contributing to promoting the cultural industry of the whole country.

Exciting forum on sustainable development orientation

At the workshop, the presentations focused on many practical contents such as exploiting indigenous cultural resources to build creative tourism products; preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage in tourism development; strengthening international cooperation in the field of cultural industry and tourism as well as proposing solutions to link regional culture with sustainable tourism development.

In his speech, Dr. Nguyen Van Luu, former Director of the Department of Training, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, emphasized the close relationship between cultural industry and sustainable tourism as two parallel pillars of current socio-economic development.

According to him, Vietnam needs to focus on building creative tourism products based on indigenous cultural resources, instead of simply exploiting them commercially.

"Developing the cultural industry must be associated with preserving and promoting heritage, avoiding the situation of trading culture for short-term economic benefits. At the same time, there needs to be appropriate support policies, encouraging businesses, artists, and communities to participate in creating cultural tourism products with regional imprints," said Mr. Luu.

Dr. Nguyen Van Luu, former Director of the Department of Training, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, presented his speech. (Photo: Le Phu)

At the workshop, Associate Professor Dr. Pham Trung Luong, Vice President of VITEA, former Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research, emphasized the key role of cultural tourism in the national cultural industry system.

According to him, developing cultural tourism does not stop at promoting tangible and intangible heritage, but needs to bring tourists deeper and more comprehensive experiences. This requires the formation of a cultural tourism value chain, connecting fields such as performing arts, festivals, cinema, music, design, cuisine and creative technology.

Besides pointing out the current limitations in the connection between tourism and culture, Mr. Pham Trung Luong proposed a number of breakthrough solutions, emphasizing the role of public-private cooperation, fair benefit-sharing mechanisms and policies to support cultural creativity associated with local tourism development.

He affirmed that when cultural values ​​are placed at the center of tourism activities, the cultural industry will truly become a driving force for sustainable socio-economic development.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Trung Luong, Vice President of VITEA, speaks. (Photo: Le Phu)

From an international perspective, Professor Kim Si Bum, Gyeongkuk National University (Korea) said he was very impressed when listening to many profound discussions at the Conference, especially the opinions on combining cultural industry with sustainable tourism development.

"Sustainable tourism development requires a clear understanding of the cultural value chain, because culture is not only a resource but also the identity of the local community. The goal of tourism is to attract visitors to experience, but in reality, in many countries, investment in tourism development has unintentionally damaged or destroyed local cultural values," Professor Kim Sim Bum shared.

Professor Kim Si Bum emphasized that the challenge for each country is how to develop tourism associated with culture without affecting local culture, preserving the traditional core while still promoting economic growth.

He hopes that through this workshop, the parties will have the opportunity to exchange and learn from each other, thereby moving towards a sustainable, humane and culturally rich tourism development model.

Professor Kim Si Bum, Gyeongkuk National University speaking. (Photo: Le Phu)

The large attendance of delegates created a vibrant academic forum, demonstrating great interest in the relationship between cultural industry and sustainable tourism development in Vietnam.

Choosing Tam Chuc Tourist Area as the venue for the Workshop has special significance, because this place is becoming a spiritual and ecological tourism highlight of the North, clearly showing the harmony between culture, religion and nature in the orientation of sustainable tourism development of Vietnam.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ket-noi-cong-nghiep-van-hoa-va-du-lich-ben-vung-huong-di-tat-yeu-thoi-hoi-nhap-332751.html