Leveraging cultural heritage for tourism development.

Besides its scenic attractions, Vietnam's tourism products possess unique characteristics. This stems from its cultural values, heritage, cuisine , and especially the Vietnamese people. This is one of the advantages that will enable Vietnamese tourism to continue its breakthrough in 2025. However, to achieve this, tourism products must be innovative and highly competitive…

The allure of heritage tourism

Tourist attractions such as Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh), Trang An ( Ninh Binh ), the ancient capital of Hue (Thua Thien Hue), and Hoi An Ancient Town (Quang Nam)... not only attract tourists with their scenery and history but also possess rich cultural values. Live performance programs like "Memories of Hoi An," "The Quintessence of Northern Vietnam," and water puppetry are increasingly making an impression. Traditional craft village tours have also become a top choice for international visitors.

Tourists visit the Ngoc Son Temple - Hoan Kiem Lake (Hanoi). Photo: P. Sy

In 2024, Vietnam continued to be honored with the title of "World's Leading Heritage Destination," while Tra Que vegetable village became the "Best Tourist Village 2024." These titles affirm the attractiveness of Vietnamese tourism. Along with scenic spots, heritage tourism has become one of its outstanding strengths.

Many localities and tourism businesses have skillfully exploited cultural identity, traditional customs, and majestic natural landscapes to create unique tourism products. Notable examples include Nghia Do tourist village (Lao Cai), Lac and Van villages (Hoa Binh), Sin Suoi Ho village (Lai Chau), Luot village (Son La), Xuan Son cultural and tourism village (Phu Tho), and Lo Lo Chai village (Ha Giang)... These destinations not only attract domestic and international tourists but also contribute to spreading community cultural values.

In 2025, Hue was chosen as the host city for the National Tourism Year 2025 with the theme "Hue - Ancient Capital, New Opportunities". According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hue City, this is an opportunity for the tourism industry of the ancient capital to connect and create its own mark, fully exploit its potential, and contribute to promoting tourism development and making it a key economic sector of the locality. Accordingly, Hue City has developed many new, highly creative tour and service products and experiences linked to the potential and advantages of the locality, revolving around characteristic brands such as "Hue - Culinary Capital", "Hue - Vietnamese Ao Dai Capital", "Hue - Festival City"...

Dr. Hoang Thi Diep, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, believes that tourism based on culture and heritage in many places has become a driving force for livelihoods and a key economic sector for localities. Cultural and heritage tourism generates income and jobs while providing resources for the preservation and promotion of heritage values; it also actively supports improving the quality of life and forms the basis for establishing appropriate codes of conduct between locals, tourists, and heritage sites.

A portion of the revenue from heritage tourism is reinvested in the preservation, restoration, enhancement, reconstruction, and management of heritage sites. This is a double benefit.

However, despite possessing stunning natural landscapes and a rich cultural heritage, Vietnam has yet to fully exploit its tourism potential. Furthermore, many localities have developed too rapidly, leading to a decline in the value of their landscapes, environment, and cultural identity. The increasing concrete construction, high building density, inconsistent architecture, and the emergence of inappropriate forms of entertainment have negatively impacted the unique local culture.

We must take advantage of the situation.

Therefore, to attract tourists, tourist destinations need to research and promote the unique cultural features of the locality, such as festivals, traditional New Year celebrations, or community activities. Most importantly, it is crucial to preserve the originality, avoiding alterations or staging of cultural activities solely to attract visitors. Each ethnic group has its own identity, and what attracts tourists to learn about and explore traditional cultural identity is when we preserve the authenticity of those values.

Traditional craft villages are also a popular choice for many international tourists.

According to cultural and tourism professionals, heritage and tourism need to be more closely linked, because heritage is an important resource for tourism development, and conversely, tourism is the most effective way to promote and introduce the value of heritage to a wide range of domestic and international tourists.

Professor Tu Thi Loan from the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts believes that promoting the value of cultural heritage to serve socio-economic development, especially in connection with tourism, is a correct policy. However, great caution is needed in the exploitation process, avoiding commercialization, theatricalization, and "grandioseizing" of heritage that is inconsistent with its inherent nature, function, and role.

Sharing the same viewpoint, Dr. Hoang Thi Diep believes that, in order to develop cultural and heritage tourism in the right direction and sustainably, it is necessary to orient tourism activities and other community activities within heritage sites in a sustainable manner; to establish detailed regulations on codes of conduct regarding heritage sites; and to encourage local communities to actively participate in heritage management, linking the interests of local communities with the preservation and promotion of heritage values.

Some experts also argue that to develop cultural tourism, it is necessary to clearly define what cultural tourism products are in order to develop a promotion strategy. Promoting cultural tourism must certainly be different from promoting other tourism products. Those working in cultural tourism need to have knowledge and experience in this field. However, currently, the tourism workforce still has many limitations. This stems from the fact that the human resources provided by training institutions do not truly meet the actual needs of businesses. The teaching programs among schools lack uniformity, leading to a situation where "each place has its own style."

To address this issue, Associate Professor Pham Trung Luong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Tourism Research, believes that a change in mindset is needed in training. Human resource training activities must be based on social needs according to the "supply-demand" principle, effectively combining state and social resources. Emphasis should be placed on closely integrating theory and practice, especially vocational skills training. Training programs must be designed to conform to regional and international standards and ensure continuity between different levels of education, as well as between domestic and regional/international training institutions.

Vietnam's tourism industry has the opportunity to assert its position as a key economic sector. By 2025, the industry aims to welcome 22-23 million international tourists and 120-130 million domestic tourists, with total tourism revenue reaching approximately 980-1,050 trillion VND. This is expected to be a significant milestone, marking a strong recovery after the recent upheavals. To achieve this goal, in addition to developing attractive tourism products, improving the quality of human resources is a pressing requirement.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/khai-thac-di-san-van-hoa-de-phat-trien-du-lich-10302284.html