Clearing bottlenecks, creating momentum for development

Vietnam's tourism industry in general and Thanh Hoa in particular always considers cultural tourism as the foundation for sustainable tourism development, helping to increase the attraction of tourists. However, how to clear the bottlenecks, create momentum for tourism to develop strongly, imbued with cultural features has been a concern of all levels, sectors, localities and even those working in tourism.

Maintaining the cultural source in tourism development (Final article): Unblocking bottlenecks, creating momentum for development Tourists are excited to observe and learn about historical stories when visiting the World Cultural Heritage of Ho Dynasty Citadel (Vinh Loc) and the excavation areas here.

In the strategy for developing Vietnam's cultural industries to 2020, with a vision to 2030, cultural tourism is identified as one of 13 industries to be promoted for development. The strategy also sets a specific target that by 2030, cultural tourism will account for 15-20% of the total 40 billion USD in revenue from tourists. In fact, tourism is the method and path that many countries are investing in, maximizing the exploitation of cultural values to promote the "soft" power of culture. At the same time, cultural resources are also the resources for tourism development in each locality.

The story of the recent success of cultural tourism products in Hanoi such as the night tour at Hoa Lo Prison Relic, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, literature tour at the Vietnam Literature Museum... is a great proof for relying on culture to develop tourism to create great attraction for tourists. Typically, the night tour at Hoa Lo Prison Relic, tourists must book 2 months in advance to experience. As for the night tour at Thang Long Imperial Citadel, every weekend night attracts about 300 visitors. However, not all localities can fully exploit cultural values to create an attractive tourism brand.

Up to now, in Thanh Hoa province, many cultural heritages have become complete cultural and tourism products, both the driving force and the goal for developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector, gradually changing the economic structure of the locality where the heritage is located, bringing practical and sustainable benefits to the community and the locality. In the goal of tourism development, Thanh Hoa province has clearly identified the preservation and promotion of cultural values associated with tourism development as both an immediate and long-term task, contributing to socio-economic development.

Maintaining the cultural source in tourism development (Final article): Unblocking bottlenecks, creating momentum for development VITM 2023 International Tourism Fair with the theme "Cultural Tourism" - orienting localities and businesses to focus on investing and exploiting cultural values to develop sustainable tourism.

In order to exploit cultural resources for socio-economic development, especially tourism, in recent years Thanh Hoa has built and implemented a series of mechanisms and policies to preserve and promote the cultural values of the Vietnamese people as well as the cultural nuances of Thanh Hoa and achieved many very important results. Typically, the field inventory of tangible cultural heritage in 27 districts, towns and cities has been completed as a basis for developing conservation plans. At the same time, traditional festivals, games, folk performances, folk songs and folk dances of ethnic groups in the regions of the province, especially festivals and performances that have been recognized as national intangible cultural heritage, have been restored. At the same time, functional sectors and localities are reviewing the current status of inventoried relics to submit to competent authorities to announce the inventory list. The historical and cultural relics that have been ranked are all specifically classified in accordance with regulations.

Also in 2022, Thanh Hoa province announced a tourism brand identity with the slogan "Thanh Hoa Tourism - Fragrance of Four Seasons" as an affirmation of the diversity and richness of tourism resources. At the same time, it contributes to building and enhancing the Thanh Hoa tourism brand in the new period, creating consistency in promoting the tourism image. The slogan is short and concise but fully captures the quintessence of Thanh land with friendly people and attractive destinations. "Fragrance of Four Seasons" will be a story to tell visitors about Thanh land, all four seasons of the year are beautiful with their own nuances, their own beauty - unique and attractive.

At the VITM Hanoi International Tourism Fair 2023 taking place from April 13 to 16, the theme of "Cultural Tourism" is the main focus as an orientation for localities and businesses to focus on investment and exploitation for sustainable tourism development. Speaking at this event, Ms. Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Vietnam emphasized: "The main challenge in the coming time is to balance the rapid development of tourism activities and the preservation and conservation of the natural beauty and cultural - social - characteristics that create the uniqueness of Vietnam in the hearts of tourists". This is also the "problem" posed for the tourism industry of the whole country in general, Thanh Hoa province in particular, towards building an advanced tourism brand imbued with national identity.

Article and photos: Hoai Anh

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