New trends in cultural tourism

In recent years, tourism combined with cultural exploration has rapidly become a new trend, offering tourists exciting experiences while contributing to the preservation and promotion of cultural values ​​and identity.

Visitors participate in the literary tour "Heart and Talent" at the Vietnam Literature Museum. (Photo by TRAN TUAN LINH)

An ancient kapok tree in bloom in March, an old house adorned with paintings by renowned artists, or the lesser-known Vietnam Literature Museum… these elements create a unique and captivating experience for tourists, drawing inspiration from seemingly familiar places.

Unleash your inherent potential.

Every year, in March, many people are filled with nostalgic memories of the blooming red kapok flowers. This year, the area around the ancient kapok tree in the grounds of the National History Museum is adorned with a different look thanks to the "Bac Co - Kapok Flower Season" tour.

While immersing themselves in the nostalgic atmosphere of a Vietnamese village with recreated village gates, tea stalls, carrying poles, bamboo swings, and folk games, visitors also have the opportunity to explore the Bac Co building, a structure bearing the imprint of Indochinese architecture blended with local culture, interspersed with the vibrant red blossoms of centuries-old kapok trees.

The tour program also highlights the essence of Vietnamese villages through exhibits from the national treasure trove, such as: the stone incense burner at Tu Ky Pagoda (17th century); the stone bridge dating back to the Le Trung Hung period (18th century); the Ngoc Lu bronze drum and the Van Ban bell (essential spiritual and musical instruments in Vietnamese rituals and religions)...

In addition, there will be opportunities for visitors to meet and interact with experts to explore the history and techniques of bronze drum casting passed down from our ancestors, and to experience drumming and listening to the sacred sounds in an ancient setting.

Deputy Director of the National History Museum, Nguyen Thi Thu Hoan, shared that the tour program helps evoke memories of home for everyone, while also providing a sense of discovery for the younger generation and foreign tourists experiencing it for the first time, thereby giving them more love and inspiration to explore cultural values ​​in a deeper way.

Organizing night tours with a focus on the value of bronze drums has created a positive aesthetic and emotional effect, which is also a unique feature that attracts tourists.

Another cultural tourism highlight that has initially made a good impression on visitors is the "Heart and Talent" tour held at the Vietnam Literature Museum, which also includes night tours.

This activity helped "revive" a museum that has been operating since June 2015 but was virtually unknown to most people. The museum, covering approximately 3,000 square meters, displays over 3,454 representative artifacts selected from 55,000 items – precious legacies containing many stories about writers, poets, and the finest examples of Vietnamese literature.

The tour offers visitors many experiences, such as: Visiting the garden of statues of 20 literary figures; carrying the words "Heart" and "Talent" into the "Temple of Vietnamese Literature"; exploring the literary space of ancient and medieval Vietnam; learning about how written forms were used to preserve poetry and prose; the first Declaration of Independence "Nam Quoc Son Ha"; the second Declaration of Independence "Binh Ngo Dai Cao"; the space of the great poet Nguyen Du and the Tale of Kieu; President Ho Chi Minh and the best poets about him; the poet, writer, and playwright Luu Quang Vu - Xuan Quynh and their heartwarming stories...

According to writer Nguyen Thi Thu Hue, Director of the Vietnam Literature Museum, the operating team is always concerned about finding a new way to spread cultural and literary values ​​to the public, instead of just letting the public look at thousands of artifacts and listen to explanations.

Building on its initial success in collaborating with a tourism agency, the museum will strive to create more versions of literary tours with diverse themes, while also coordinating with other organizations to develop specialized tourism programs, connecting with the hometowns of famous authors to make literary values ​​more accessible to everyone, including international tourists.

Also in March, an interesting cultural tourism model was tested at the old house at 45 Hang Bac Street: a long-term exhibition of painting collections mainly from two periods: Indochinese art and resistance art, associated with the names of famous painters such as To Ngoc Van, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Bui Xuan Phai, Hoang Tich Chu, Nguyen Tien Chung, Phan Ke An, Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Huyen, Phan Thong, Nguyen Van Ty, Nguyen Van Thien…

In addition, there are outstanding works by French masters who participated in founding and teaching at the Indochina College of Fine Arts, such as Victor Tardieu, Joseph Inguimberty…; or the work that attracted special public attention was the landscape oil painting by King Hàm Nghi.

The completely free open space allows visitors to admire the ancient architecture, enjoy paintings, interact and chat with art collectors and researchers, or leisurely sip coffee while watching the street life... The idea and content of the program were implemented by the Ngoc Ha Club branch of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association with the participation of many curators and Vietnamese artists who have returned from abroad.

According to the association's representative, they will coordinate with tourism and travel agencies to make the location and event a destination on Hanoi's tourism map, contributing to promoting the cultural essence of the Old Quarter while bridging the gap between classic paintings and the public. The first unit to connect with this project is also the same one that successfully organized night tours at the National Museum of History and the Vietnam Museum of Literature.

Creativity and perseverance are key elements.

Vietnam Sustainable Tourism Company (STID) is one of the organizations actively collaborating with museums, cultural spaces, and heritage sites to organize many meaningful tours. Beyond his managerial role, the company's director, Phung Quang Thang, personally conducts surveys, writes scripts for each program, and emphasizes unique characteristics to capitalize on.

Sharing his views on cultural tourism, Mr. Phung Quang Thang stated that, for companies designing a tourism product, the biggest challenge is having a thorough understanding of the destination's content, possessing extensive knowledge, and finding a workforce with sufficient passion and willingness to invest time and effort.

As for coordinating units such as museums and cultural spaces, they need time and conditions to familiarize themselves with and adapt to the services and the "lifecycle" of tourism products, and they must be able to withstand the pressure of demands such as perseverance, novelty, and attractiveness.

On the positive side, according to initial surveys, units currently developing cultural tourism believe that goodwill cooperation between parties has created a source of creative inspiration and collaboration.

From there, they have more opportunities to research, exchange ideas, and learn from each other, making it easier to improve the quality of service for tourists. The higher the demand from tourists for cultural tourism, the more favorable the conditions become for exploiting the values ​​of heritage.

The most significant highlight is that, for the younger generation and families, cultural tourism is becoming a relaxed and enjoyable way to connect, explore, and learn. Creativity and perseverance are core elements in creating a distinctive and successful cultural tourism product.

In mid-April, the Vietnam Tourism Association organized the 2023 Tourism Forum with the theme "Developing Vietnamese Cultural Tourism". At the forum, Director General of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh noted that the Covid-19 pandemic had changed tourism demand, creating new tourism trends.

While countries around the world, especially in the ASEAN region, are focusing on priority solutions to restore and boost the growth of the tourism industry, Vietnam's tourism sector faces fierce competition in terms of destinations and tourism products and services in attracting foreign tourists as well as developing domestic tourism...

According to statistics from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, cultural tourism contributed 37% to global tourism and is projected to increase by 15% annually. Developing sustainable tourism, closely linked to the preservation and promotion of heritage and cultural values, is an extremely urgent task.

The tourism industry has made cultural tourism products one of the top priority product lines to be promoted in the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy to 2030 as well as the Vietnam Tourism Product Development Strategy to 2025, with a vision to 2030.

According to information from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), among cultural tourists in general, visitors to museums account for about 59%; visits to historical sites and cultural heritage sites account for about 56% - much higher than attending traditional art performances.

Researchers suggest that successful models from several countries can be applied to attract cultural tourists, such as: live performances; engaging storytelling about the history and culture of the nation and locality; and a novel approach to exploring and exploiting seemingly familiar elements.

In Vietnam, there are tourism products that combine with the promotion of cultural values, such as: tours connecting world heritage sites in ASEAN countries; heritage tours in Central Vietnam; Vietnamese festivals such as the Hue Art Festival, Nha Trang Sea Festival, Ha Long Bay Carnival, Central Highlands Gong Festival, Da Lat Flower Festival... and recently, unique aspects of Vietnamese culture have been researched and developed by businesses and investors into distinctive tourism products such as the "Memories of Hoi An" live performance program, "Essence of Northern Vietnam", "Water Puppet Show"; and craft village tours are also a top choice for international tourists visiting Vietnam.

MAI LU

Source: https://nhandan.vn/xu-huong-moi-cua-du-lich-van-hoa-post752439.html