Khanh Hoa: Foreign tourists "red-eyed" looking for Vietnamese goods

Right in the middle of the bustling tourist center of Khanh Hoa province, foreign tourists still have to "go to hell" to buy Vietnamese goods.

Vietnamese goods "inferior" in the tourist streets

Walking around the central streets, where tourists are bustling, many shops have bright signs and eye-catching displays of goods. Invitations are heard in many languages. However, in the midst of such a bustling space, finding a product made in Vietnam, especially a gift bearing the unique mark of Khanh Hoa tourism, is not easy.

Visiting the OT store on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street (Nha Trang Ward), we noticed that Vietnamese products are "inferior", drowning among a myriad of products from bracelets, handbags, food... most of which have labels and packaging in foreign languages ​​or do not state their origin.

According to observations, many foreign tourists spend a lot of time choosing gifts. A female international tourist held a bundle of agarwood incense in various colors of green, red, purple, and yellow, looked at it for a long time, then shook her head. "It's beautiful, but I want to buy Vietnamese products, not products from other countries," this customer shared.

Incense of various colors of unknown origin appears everywhere

Asking the store staff, we learned that these bundles of agarwood incense are not local products, even though Khanh Hoa is famous as "the land of agarwood and the sea of ​​bird's nests". The products do not even have a place of origin, only labeled with a few lines of English introducing the scents such as Lavender, Lemongrass, Rose...

"Each bundle of incense is 100 grams, priced at 150,000 VND. It's not real agarwood incense, nor is it produced in the province, and I don't know where it comes from," the female employee explained.

Continuing to visit the SB store on Hung Vuong street, the sign outside clearly states "Made in Viet Nam". When entering, foreign tourists cannot help but be disappointed because they see only foreign brands from Lacoste handbags to Gucci Flora perfume, but not a single traditional Vietnamese product as advertised outside.

Many stores in the Western Quarter are labeled "Made in Vietnam", but in reality they do not sell Vietnamese products.

At Yen Sao night market, the situation is no better. This place should be a space to introduce international tourists to typical Vietnamese products, an opportunity to promote local culture and image, but it is also flooded with imported goods.

Ms. Soo Min (Korean tourist) shared: "Because there weren't many options, I decided to buy a T-shirt with a printed image of a place in Khanh Hoa. and paper cards with pictures of Vietnamese girls wearing ao dai. These are Vietnamese gifts that I had a hard time finding."

To let tourists "open their wallets"

According to tourism experts, foreign tourists coming to Vietnam all want to explore the traditional culture of the Vietnamese people and buy typical Vietnamese items. Combining sightseeing with shopping is an important source of income, bringing direct benefits to the tourism industry, creating jobs for local workers.

In Khanh Hoa, domestic tourism products are still monotonous, leading to many shops specializing in selling goods to tourists, mainly foreign branded products, while local products are still struggling to find a foothold at home.

The main reasons are the lack of promotional strategies, lack of products with unique imprints, lack of official points of sale and no suitable layout and introduction for tourists to easily choose, even though the tourism industry has organized a contest to design Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa gift products.

It is time for the tourism industry to work closely with craft villages, businesses and relevant departments and sectors to orient and support production, creating beautiful products with strong regional imprints. Transparent price listing and fixed price selling are also necessary to build trust and prestige with tourists.

If loose business practices continue, foreign goods of unknown origin will flood in, overwhelm, and reduce the value of Vietnamese goods, affecting the interests of tourists.

The problem is how to create attractive local products, contributing to promoting the image of Khanh Hoa, so that tourists are willing to spend money is still an open problem that the tourism industry of this province is still struggling to find a solution.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/khanh-hoa-du-khach-nuoc-ngoai-do-mat-tim-hang-viet-20251111180822971.htm