Taking place over 2 days, the “Vietnamese Martial Arts Festival” includes a series of impressive activities promoting and displaying the quintessence of Vietnam’s thousands of years of traditional martial arts. Through this, people and tourists will learn about Kinh Van An, Vovinam, Vo Vuong Quyen, Uy Long Mon, Ho Quyen Dao... Martial arts and kickboxing performances... are held for the first time in prime locations such as Ngo Mon Square or martial arts parades on the Huong River, also showing another potential for cultural tourism in Hue from the martial arts tradition, martial arts associated with the relics of Vo Mieu, Xien Vo Tu... from the Nguyen Dynasty.

And a question is also raised, with a very thick and wide martial arts and heritage, after the first "Vietnamese Martial Arts Festival", how will Hue's capital continue to be exploited?

Along with the “Vietnamese Martial Arts Festival”, within the framework of the National Tourism Year that has just opened, this year, Hue will host over 40 cultural and tourism programs. Working with Hue on this event, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho An Phong said that in order to take advantage of the opportunities that the National Tourism Year 2025 hosted by Hue will bring, it is necessary to be successful in creating and spreading the Hue tourism brand, making a breakthrough in the number of visitors and especially having new products, new routes, and new connections.

The future of the “Vietnamese Martial Arts Festival” as well as the note of Deputy Minister Ho An Phong reminded us. In 2008, within the framework of the Hue Festival, the Festival reenacting the coronation of Emperor Quang Trung at Ban Mountain was invested in elaborately and expensively with majestic props and costumes, and the participation of 500 actors, artists, and a team of directors invited from Ho Chi Minh City. However, after only performing once, the festival fell into oblivion, although the anniversary of Emperor Quang Trung's coronation is still held every year, the legendary Ban Mountain relic is still majestic, and Hue tourism still lacks sustainable products to put on tours, routes, and generate revenue. In fact, many art programs are staged and carefully prepared through festivals, but after the events end, those new products are also difficult to maintain.

A question that is also raised is that when organizing cultural and tourism activities and events, it is necessary to determine whether they are aimed at attracting tourists or awakening potential? Is it to serve tourism or to serve the public and local people?

As long as there is ambiguity and unclear criteria and purposes, I am afraid that many activities, programs, and cultural tourism products with lavish and costly investments will find it difficult to create sustainable results to build and nurture revenue from preserving and promoting cultural values ​​and heritages that have been identified as the driving force and foundation for the development of Hue city.

Kim Oanh