Raising service quality standards and maintaining the "Hospitable Da Nang" brand.

Da Nang has built a brand and image as a friendly and hospitable tourist city. In the context of the city diversifying its international tourist markets, the tourism industry and business community need to develop strategies to improve service quality and maintain its "hospitable" brand.

The city is increasingly attracting a diverse range of international tourists. In the photo: Indian tourists visiting Hoi An ( Da Nang city). Photo: NGOC HA

Standardizing the workforce

Da Nang city has approximately 2,000 tourist accommodation establishments and thousands of businesses operating in the food and beverage service sector, meeting the diverse needs of both domestic and international markets. Many of these businesses are striving to improve service quality, contributing to elevating the city's status as a tourist destination.

Ms. Nguyen Hua Hoang Vy, Business Director of Tasty House restaurant, said that to better meet the diverse needs of domestic and international customers, the restaurant has identified standardizing its staff as a key factor. First, regarding foreign languages, restaurant staff are trained in basic English communication. Furthermore, for specific customer segments such as Muslims, staff are taught some common phrases to ensure convenience and comfort during service.

Furthermore, the Tasty House restaurant team is also trained in cultural and religious considerations, such as respecting prayer times, appropriate communication, and refined service to ensure guests always feel respected and at ease. “Beyond just service standards, we also focus on cultivating hospitality – a beautiful aspect of local culture – to provide a truly heartfelt and genuine dining experience. We believe that the combination of professional service skills and cultural understanding will help the restaurant meet the stringent standards of this customer group,” Ms. Vy shared.

Photo: Xuan Son

At The Pearl Hoi An 5-star resort, the focus is on upgrading facilities to cater to diverse markets and customer segments, including families, groups of friends, couples, and long-stay guests. Improvements are concentrated on optimizing room space, common areas, and the overall landscape, aiming to provide a relaxing, private experience that suits the diverse needs of international travelers.

According to Ms. Nguyen Hai Minh, Managing Director of The Pearl Hoi An 5-star resort, the resort recognizes that building a friendly and hospitable image requires concrete and consistent actions throughout its daily operations. The resort strictly maintains operating procedures according to 5-star service standards to ensure stable and safe operations for guests.

The Pearl Hoi An focuses on spreading a friendly service culture through training programs on service skills, customer care, and international service standards. Employees receive training in etiquette, customer experience management skills, and multilingual communication, including English, Korean, and Chinese. In addition to centralized training courses, the company promotes on-the-job training during employment, helping employees improve their practical skills and ensuring consistent and professional service quality.

A strategy is needed for each customer market.

According to managers, Da Nang's tourism sector has undergone a significant shift and diversification of its international tourist market since the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent tourism recovery, attracting many visitors from Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Middle East, India, and more recently, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries.

The city is increasingly attracting a diverse range of international tourist markets. In the photo: Indian tourists visiting Hoi An (Da Nang city). Photo: NGOC HA

The city has a large workforce in the tourism industry, the majority of whom are formally trained. However, Mr. Nguyen Son Thuy, Director of Visit Indochina Company, believes that, in the face of new competitive demands, the quality of human resources still needs to be improved in a more specialized direction, not just at the general level of friendliness.

According to Mr. Thuy, the top priority is to standardize personnel and service processes. From receptionists, restaurants, drivers, tour guides to frontline personnel at destinations, all need regular training in civilized behavior, intercultural communication, complaint handling skills, and the principle of non-discrimination or prejudice against any customer market. For specific markets such as India and Islam, in-depth training programs are needed on consumer habits, religious beliefs, appropriate food, privacy needs, and things to avoid in communication.

At the same time, the city needs to strengthen destination governance and rapid response mechanisms. In the context of the rapid spread of information on social media, all feedback from tourists needs to be received, verified, and processed promptly, transparently, and responsibly. A safe and friendly destination is not one without incidents, but one with the capacity to respond professionally, fairly, and receptively to all feedback.

"To truly serve multicultural markets professionally, we need to shift from a 'serveable' mindset to a 'serve up to standard' mindset. This means that in addition to foreign languages ​​and basic professional skills, tourism personnel must receive further training in culture; skills in handling intercultural situations; and a service attitude that respects diversity," Mr. Thuy said.

Da Nang city is increasingly attracting a diverse range of international tourists. In the photo: Russian tourists visiting Da Nang. Photo: NGOC HA

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the People's Committee of Da Nang City has just issued Plan No. 138/KH-UBND with the goal of synchronizing and improving the quality of tourism services in the city by 2026. The main tasks focus on strengthening state management of tourism activities; emphasizing standardization and improvement of service quality and infrastructure; and enhancing the quality of human resources in tourism. However, maintaining the brand of a friendly and hospitable city is a requirement for the tourism industry, especially as Da Nang is welcoming many different tourist markets, some with completely different characteristics and identities.

According to Nguyen Thi Hoai An, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the city's tourism industry is working diligently with associations and travel companies to better understand the characteristics of each market. Simultaneously, they are seeking solutions to create a balanced tourism landscape, avoiding potential market conflicts at destinations. In the future, the city may consider planning separate areas for specific tourist groups to optimize experiences and avoid cultural and customary clashes between different visitor flows.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/nang-chuan-chat-luong-phuc-vu-giu-thuong-hieu-da-nang-men-khach-3333805.html