Phuoc Du Hi: 'Making travel vlogs to attract visitors to my hometown'

Attracting more than 100 million views from videos promoting his hometown, Le Hong Phuoc (Phuoc Du Hi) brings Binh Dinh tourism closer to many people.

Talking to VnExpress , Le Hong Phuoc, 28 years old (from Tuy Phuoc district), a famous tour guide and travel vlogger with 200,000 followers on Tiktok and nearly 40,000 followers on Facebook, said that his trips around his hometown help him understand more deeply the spiritual values ​​of Xu Nau, acting as a bridge to bring tourists to the "land of martial arts and literature".

Phuoc Du Hi - travel vlogger from Binh Dinh. Photo: Character provided

- How did you become a tour guide?

- I am a bachelor of English Language graduated from Quy Nhon University, but I am passionate about traveling and exploring . Since I was a student, I have traveled by motorbike to many unspoiled tourist destinations in the locality, and some provinces such as Phu Yen, Da Lat, Lam Dong.

When I graduated in 2017, I saw that Quy Nhon city and other places in Binh Dinh were gradually attracting tourists, many corporations invested in large resort tourism projects in the locality. Given the potential of the tourism industry, I decided to switch to becoming a tour guide.

Although I did not receive formal training in the industry, traveling a lot, combining practical knowledge with book knowledge, foreign languages, and a little bit of speaking ability helped me gain the sympathy of many tourists while leading tours.

But this job was not easy at first, my income was just enough to live on. I worked for a few years, then the tourism industry went into a slump, Covid-19 lasted, that's when I tried making videos, trying to become a vlogger, a tiktoker.

- What local tourism topics do you cover in your videos?

- In July 2021, I started making videos. At first, I exploited my core strength of tourism, making videos about famous landmarks of Binh Dinh, local dishes, culture, and history. But all beginnings are difficult, and views were quite low.

At this time, Covid-19 is subsiding but the tourism industry has not yet returned to its true form, so I have a lot of time at home. So I switched the topic to videos recording family diaries, conversations with my parents. This topic accidentally touched many people who had to be away from their families for too long during the epidemic, especially with the audience who are Binh Dinh people far from home. The number of views started to increase from here, causing previous videos about tourism to become more viral.

After that, I made a video about the "brain damage" of Binh Dinh dialect, which unexpectedly attracted more than 3.6 million views on the Tiktok platform and millions of views on Facebook. This was a turning point that helped me believe in and invest more in my work and invest more in videos.

- Why do you think your videos attract viewers even though they only focus on one locality?

- At the end of 2021, I accelerated making videos about Binh Dinh tourism with more frequency, about 3-4 videos per week. The places I visited were mostly new and unspoiled, I almost didn't have to "act" when on camera. Usually after filming, I spent a session editing on my phone.

In addition to investing a lot of effort in practical experiences, I combine research in books and newspapers when visiting historical and cultural sites. In addition, opinions from the community are also a channel I often refer to, thanks to taking advantage of social networks. For example, when I want to ask what is interesting to see in a specific place, what delicious food to eat, many people online comment enthusiastically to recommend.

I often appear with an energetic, youthful image in my videos, which makes viewers like me and want to immerse themselves in experiences like mine to regenerate themselves after stressful working hours.

Le Hong Phuoc works as a tour guide for a group of tourists. Photo: Provided by the character

- How have the videos helped local people and the province's tourism industry?

- Some places have become famous from being wild, for example Ham Ho in Tay Son district. There are cool streams and a very special rock here, so just a few days after I made the video, a lot of tourists came here. The video has attracted more than a million views so far, helping the locals earn more income from selling food and products to tourists.

Other tourist destinations are already famous, but appearing on social networks with new, little-known aspects helps the tourism industry maintain its appeal to visitors. Or the restaurants that I review are also known by many people outside the province and they visit every time they come to Binh Dinh.

- What does being famous on social media bring you?

- After I introduced Binh Dinh tourism and became known to everyone as both a vlogger and a tour guide, people often contacted me for tour consultation. After customers booked the tour, I worked with the travel company to organize it and received a commission, this is my main source of income.

In addition, many restaurants also ask me to post videos. This is also a source of income, but I do not want to turn my channel into an advertising channel. Therefore, I often carefully consider factors such as the uniqueness of the restaurant or delicious food before accepting.

A great spiritual value that I received is the joy of introducing the image of my homeland everywhere, which is also the guiding principle when I started working as a tour guide or making vlogs.

- What is your biggest pressure?

- The videos have an impact on many people and the tourism industry, so I am also under a lot of pressure because I am worried about making mistakes or accidentally causing negative impacts. There are videos that have been published, but when I read the comments, I realize that my perspective may have been correct at that time but is not good for the general public.

On the other hand, when my name is known to the online community, it means I also receive negative comments for good content. In fact, my mood also "drops". But overall, I still pursue this career because of the joy and seeing that the audience still loves me a lot.

Le Hong Phuoc on a trip to Ly Son (Quang Ngai). Photo: Character provided

- What are your plans for the future?

- At the end of last year, I took a trip across Vietnam by motorbike to visit all parts of the country. These trips not only satisfied my passion for traveling, but also helped me broaden my perspective on how local tourism is done, thereby drawing experiences for myself as well as sharing with those working in tourism in Binh Dinh.

Currently, I continue to travel around Binh Dinh to understand more about my hometown, from there I can research and produce videos with more investment and historical and cultural depth, combined with social networks to bring traditional values ​​to young people.

I also want to expand promotion to neighboring provinces such as Quang Ngai, Kon Tum... so that myself and tourists have more options to experience.

Pham Linh

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/phuoc-du-hi-lam-vlog-du-lich-de-thu-hut-khach-den-que-huong-4684541.html