Current situation and solutions for developing recreational sports in Vietnam

In recent years, recreational sports in Vietnam have developed remarkably, contributing to improving public health and promoting the sports movement, while contributing to the economic and tourism development of Vietnam. However, besides the achievements, the development of recreational sports in Vietnam also has certain difficulties and limitations, affecting its long-term and sustainable development.

Current status of recreational sports development in Vietnam

Our Party and State are well aware of the important role of sports in improving public health and building a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, we have always paid attention and had a clear orientation in promoting the development of physical training and sports. Evidenced by documents, directives, resolutions... such as: Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW (December 1, 2011) of the Politburo on strengthening the leadership of the Party, creating a strong development step in physical training and sports by 2020; Law on Physical Training and Sports amended in 2018; Conclusion 70-KL/TW (January 31, 2024), encouraging the development of mass physical training and sports, creating opportunities for everyone to participate in training, performing, competing to improve health, prevent diseases, treat diseases, have fun, entertain...; Decision 1189/QD-TTg (October 15, 2024) of the Prime Minister approving the Strategy for development of physical training and sports in Vietnam to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

In recent years, Vietnam has witnessed a significant increase in the number and scale of recreational sports events. These events attract the participation of people from all ages and social backgrounds, and contribute to promoting the mass sports movement. Specifically:

Marathons and half-marathons are being held more and more frequently. In 2023, there will be 41 marathons held in 27 provinces and cities, 25% more than in 2022. The number of participants increased by 260,000 compared to 2022. The number of people completing races also increased by 46% compared to 2022.

Scuba diving is a sport that attracts many foreign visitors.

Cycling and outdoor sports events are increasingly popular, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. Annual demand for bicycles is up to 2.5 million.

Marine sports events, adventure sports, community sports, tournaments and sports events for students develop in scale, quantity and quality;

Sports festivals and sports events in regions, cities and residential communities are held regularly and periodically.

The infrastructure for recreational sports in Vietnam has made significant progress in recent years. Sports centers, sports parks, sports areas, complexes, gyms, etc. are expanding in all provinces and cities, helping people have easier access to recreational sports services.

The development of technology has been playing an important role in improving the quality and experience of recreational sports training in Vietnam. Phone applications and wearable devices supporting training; virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), GPS, AI (artificial intelligence) technology; the emergence of smart gyms; livestreaming and online sports classes on many different platforms are increasingly widely applied.

The development of recreational sports in schools and businesses in Vietnam has made great strides in recent years. From building modern facilities, organizing grassroots sports tournaments, to using technology in training, schools and businesses are increasingly encouraging people, employees, students, and pupils to participate in sports activities, contributing to improving health and quality of life.

With 3,200 km of coastline and 7/13 natural wonders of the world, in recent years, adventure sports and sea sports in Vietnam have developed strongly, with more and more new sports being introduced and popularized in tourist areas as well as major sporting events.

Extreme sports:

Mountain climbing and trekking at some famous locations such as Fansipan (Lao Cai), Ta Nang - Phan Dung (Lam Dong - Binh Thuan), and Pu Luong (Thanh Hoa) have attracted more and more tourists and adventure lovers to participate. Fansipan alone attracts thousands of tourists every year (in 2019, there were more than 80,000 visitors); Vietnam Mountain Marathon (Sa Pa, Lao Cai). From 2017 - 2023, the number of participants increased from 2,000 to more than 4,000 people, coming from all over the world; Paragliding, the "Flying over the Golden Season" Paragliding Festival attracts more than 150 pilots from 20 countries (2022); Rock Climbing, there are more and more famous climbing spots (Lan Ha Bay and Cat Ba (Hai Phong); Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) ...

Marine sports:

Surfing in many famous locations such as Mui Ne (Phan Thiet), Da Nang, and Phu Quoc; Many international surfing tournaments are held; Kitesurfing in Nha Trang, Da Nang, Phu Quoc. In particular, Mui Ne is the leading kitesurfing center in Asia, with more than 30 surfing schools and about 15,000 - 20,000 tourists participating each year; Diving: Nha Trang, Con Dao, Phu Quoc... Every year, about 100,000 domestic and international tourists participate in diving tours in Nha Trang; Sailing: Vung Tau - Nha Trang International Race. The number of participating teams increased from 8 teams in 2010 to 17 teams in 2019. In addition, it has developed in many locations and resorts in Phu Quoc, Ha Long...

The trend of combining sports, entertainment and tourism has become a new trend. Tours combining sports such as marathons at famous destinations, cycling through beautiful roads, or participating in sports activities in resorts have created new experiences for participants.

Vietnamese youth are increasingly interested in new sports such as crossfit, e-sports, digital physical sports, pickleball... These sports not only help improve health but are also highly entertaining, attracting many people to practice, perform and perform.

Some limitations in the development of recreational sports in Vietnam.

In recent years, although recreational sports in Vietnam have made remarkable progress, in reality there are still some limitations that affect the comprehensive development of this field. Specifically:

Lack of modern infrastructure and equipment

– Lack of standard facilities: Many areas, especially rural and remote areas, still lack standard playgrounds and sports and recreation facilities.

– Degraded infrastructure reduces efficiency and limits people's participation.

– Uneven distribution causes imbalance in access to recreational sports services between regions.

Lack of diversity in recreational sports

– Although modern and extreme sports have begun to appear, their development is still not uniform and not widely popular, and they have not attracted many participants.

– Not diversifying entertainment activities: Still leaning towards traditional sports, not popularizing new entertainment sports, especially in non-urban areas.

Policy and government support constraints

– Lack of synchronous policies: Support and development incentive policies are still not really synchronous and effective. Many localities have not really paid attention and invested properly in recreational sports.

– Limited financial support: The State and businesses' financial investment in recreational sports is limited, mainly focusing on professional sports and traditional sports activities.

Lack of human resources and experts

– Lack of coaches and experts in new recreational sports such as surfing, mountain climbing, paragliding, digital physical sports, etc. Most of the current instructors or coaches are foreigners or self-taught, there is no domestic professional training system.

– Uneven quality of human resources, especially in remote localities and areas, human resources serving recreational sports activities are still of poor quality, affecting the safety and quality of organizing recreational sports activities.

Not making good use of technology in sports entertainment

– The application of technology in recreational sports activities is still limited and not widely popularized, limiting the experience of participants.

– Lack of digital platforms to support event organization, tournament management, and connecting the recreational sports community reduces the accessibility and popularity of recreational sports activities, especially among young people who love technology.

People's awareness and habits

– People’s awareness of the importance of recreational sports for health and spirit is still limited. Partly due to lack of knowledge and partly due to difficult living conditions, recreational sports are not taken seriously.

– Sedentary lifestyle habits due to the influence of using phones, computers, electronic devices, etc., lead to a sedentary lifestyle and no habit of regular exercise. Especially for young people.

Restrictions on advertising and communication

– Lack of promotional and communication campaigns for recreational sports

– Not many major sports and entertainment events have been organized: Compared to other countries in the region, the number of sports and entertainment events in Vietnam is still small.

Proposing some solutions to develop recreational sports in Vietnam in a sustainable way

To overcome the existing limitations, thereby promoting and sustainably developing Recreational Sports in Vietnam, we propose some specific solutions as follows:

Increase investment and develop sports infrastructure to ensure uniformity and modernity.

– Invest in synchronous development of infrastructure for recreational sports nationwide, especially in remote provinces, rural areas and remote areas; prioritize the construction of infrastructure suitable for each new type of sport such as adventure sports, water sports, digital physical sports, etc.

– Reasonable infrastructure allocation for areas, creating conditions for everyone to access recreational sports activities.

Diversify types of sports and entertainment

– Developing new, modern, adventurous sports: In addition to continuing to maintain popular sports such as football, volleyball, badminton, etc., it is necessary to promote, encourage and facilitate the development of new sports that are attractive to young people such as adventure sports (paragliding, artificial climbing) and sea sports (surfing, SUP rowing), e-sports, digital physical sports, etc.

– Encourage outdoor recreational sports such as jogging, cycling, rollerblading or yoga; encourage the organization of events and collective activities in parks and public squares, thereby stimulating a stronger community sports movement.

Improving the quality of human resources for recreational sports

– Focus on training professional coaches: Invest in building a professional coach training system; have policies to encourage foreign coaches to come to Vietnam to teach and share experiences; encourage international cooperation in training human resources for recreational sports; Increase the organization of courses and training programs to grant professional certificates to improve and standardize the qualifications of coaches.

– Develop short-term community sports training courses for local sports collaborators, providing them with basic knowledge to guide people to participate in safe and effective recreational sports activities.

Strengthening policy and financial support for recreational sports development

– Propose policies to encourage investment in recreational sports such as tax and financial incentives to encourage businesses to invest in sports infrastructure, organize recreational sports events and develop sports services; apply the public-private partnership (PPP) model to mobilize social resources.

– Increase budget and financial support packages for sports and entertainment development projects (construction and renovation of sports and entertainment facilities, especially those serving people in remote areas).

Strengthening the application of modern technology in sports and entertainment activities

– Develop digital applications and platforms to support people in monitoring their health, planning their workouts and connecting with sports clubs; develop virtual reality (VR) technology applications to create an online sports environment… creating opportunities and motivating people to actively participate in sports, thereby developing the sports movement; Digital platforms for managing and organizing sports events also need to be developed to facilitate people's participation.

Flying over the golden season is a paragliding event that attracts tourists and athletes.

– Use smart technology devices such as smart watches and health monitors to track your workout progress, helping to improve efficiency and safety while exercising.

Promote the development of school sports and community sports movements

– Implement well the physical education program in general schools, paying attention to organizing extracurricular sports activities, increasing the organization of sports tournaments, building models of school sports clubs...;

– Strengthening the construction of facilities for school sports;

– Increase the organization of medium and small-scale community sports events suitable to local natural conditions, customs and culture, creating conditions for people to easily participate, form exercise habits, thereby developing the community sports movement;

– Building a “School – Community” model to create links between schools and communities to organize common sports activities;

– Encourage recreational sports activities associated with the natural environment to improve health, protect the environment and develop tourism.

Promote propaganda and promotion to raise public awareness of recreational sports.

– Promote communication and propaganda activities through media such as television, social networks, and public sports events to raise awareness of the importance of recreational sports for health and life; Organize campaigns to encourage physical activity and sports in the community.

– Promote recreational sports programs in schools, industrial zones and businesses to encourage students, workers, officials and employees to participate in regular exercise. These are the subjects with great potential in spreading the community sports movement.

Increase the organization of recreational sports events of different levels and scales.

– Promote the organization of international sports tournaments and events to create opportunities for exchange and attract the attention of tourists. Events such as marathons, Ironman, and sea sports tournaments can become highlights to attract tourists and promote the country's sports culture.

– Increase the organization of small and medium-sized sports and entertainment events in the locality to create a vibrant atmosphere, helping people have the opportunity to participate and exercise.

Strengthening international cooperation in developing recreational sports

– Strengthen cooperation with international sports organizations to share, learn experiences and connect and cooperate in developing recreational sports, applying advanced recreational sports development models to Vietnam.

– Strengthen the organization of cultural and sports exchange programs through international exchange programs, organize international sports tournaments, and recreational sports in Vietnam to create opportunities to access new sports, develop training movements and expand the scale of international events, while creating opportunities to promote and attract tourists as well as the attention of the people.

Promoting the development of Sports and Entertainment associated with Tourism

– Taking advantage of natural advantages, developing sports and entertainment tourism areas (specialized sports tourism areas) at famous landmarks;

– Organizing international sporting events associated with tourism;

– Develop sports tourism products specific to each region: Develop sports resorts, services such as yoga, meditation, and gentle sports combined with resort tourism in coastal areas such as Da Nang, Phu Quoc, etc.;

– Developing infrastructure for tourism and sports and entertainment;

– Training human resources for sports tourism;

– Promote communication and promotion of sports and entertainment tourism.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dinh Quang Ngoc (Source: Department of Sports and Physical Training)

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/thuc-trang-va-giai-phap-phat-trien-the-thao-giai-tri-o-viet-nam-20241223142502553.htm