Mr. Do Ngoc Co, Chairman of Hue City Tourism Association

Mr. Do Ngoc Co, Chairman of Hue City Tourism Association, is concerned: The beauty of Hue's rivers has been mentioned in poetry, songs, music, and paintings. Over the years, besides the Huong River, which has been exploited for a number of tourism activities and services, many other rivers have not yet been invested in services or exploited for tourism products to serve tourists. Even the Huong River, one of the iconic rivers, when mentioning Hue, the services are still very "poor" and not commensurate with its inherent potential.

You are referring to the gap between the potential and exploitation of river tourism in Hue. From a travel perspective, how do you view this issue?

When mentioning the rivers in Hue, people first think of the Perfume River. Hue is a land with a dense river system with the main rivers: Perfume River, Ta Trach River, Huu Trach River, Bo River, An Cuu River, O Lau River... These rivers not only provide water for daily life and agricultural production but are also cultural features, bringing inspiration to many poets, musicians, and painters.

Huong River has rich potential for tourism exploitation.

In fact, the Perfume River is a rare river with waterway tourism services in Hue. Meanwhile, other rivers in Hue seem to have no river tourism services or products. For example, the Ngu Ha River, despite survey programs and ideas, has been waiting for tourism exploitation for many years.

Returning to the story of the Perfume River, frankly speaking, tourism services are still "poor", when for many years the main services have been boat rides to listen to Hue folk songs, afternoon tea, and pedal boat services... Tourism on the Perfume River is still facing the problem of expired boats, poor boat quality, and services on the river that do not satisfy tourists...

The potential for river tourism in Hue is huge, but it has only been exploited for transportation. These include sightseeing boat tours, going to Thien Mu Pagoda, and visiting royal tombs. The experience factor from river tourism services is not much.

Are there barriers that prevent travel businesses from exploiting tours, routes, and tourism products, sir?

It is true that there are existing problems. If there are products, services, travel businesses are ready to sell tours, but Hue is still very lacking.

Tourist demand is always there. Even our company, in the past, sold boat tours and sightseeing tours very stably. Western tourists really liked them and almost every morning there were customers. Up to now, through information from travel agencies, boat tours on the Perfume River have decreased by 40 - 50% due to many reasons.

The Huong River is green and beautiful, favorable for developing river tourism.

Firstly, the dragon boat system on the Perfume River is reaching the end of its life, the quality of service has decreased; the noise of the big boats. In fact, there is a very high-quality Moon river cruise service on the Perfume River, but the quantity is limited, the service price is higher to match the quality, the customer is more selective so it is difficult for travel agencies to exploit; ordinary customers find it difficult to choose to use the service.

The main service on the river is Hue singing. Recently, businesses and tourists have reported unhealthy competition, price reduction, quality reduction, service time reduction, unprofessionalism in service, etc. These factors, combined with the fact that the boat's lifespan is about to expire, have made travel companies reluctant to exploit it. Because the reputation of the travel company is also there. On the other hand, now they go and give feedback and reviews a lot, if the service quality cannot be guaranteed, the company must switch to exploiting other tours.

Looking at countries developing river tourism, other localities and experience in tourism exploitation, in your opinion, what services should Hue invest in to make river tourism vibrant?

In many countries, their rivers are not as beautiful as the rivers in Hue. However, they still attract a lot of visitors. The reason is that they have what visitors need.

The green - clean - beautiful elements are already present on the river in Hue and need to be preserved. However, there must be unique products, products with highlights. There are 3 important elements that river tourism should aim for: sightseeing, dining and art. Exploiting river tourism products and services should focus on this axis.

For sightseeing, it is necessary to invest in a suitable and quality boat system, creating comfort and a sense of safety for tourists. In addition, it is also necessary to choose tours and routes associated with beautiful landscapes in Hue. There must be food services on the river. Currently, there are some, but they are mainly reserved by guests. Meanwhile, for groups and individual guests coming to Hue and needing immediate food services, they are not yet able to meet the demand because there are no restaurants on the river, which can be restaurants right on the boat.

Regarding art, I think there should be special art programs, water music shows. Even Hue singing on the river must be researched to be done methodically, professionally, ensuring quality.

You mentioned specificity, unique products. Could you elaborate?

The trend of tourists is to seek something different. How to travel to Huong River or other rivers in Hue differently from other beautiful and famous rivers in other places.

Hue has many “materials” to create that difference. As for the 3 factors I mentioned above, in terms of sightseeing, the scenery along both sides of the river is very beautiful, but that is the real scene. The lighting system is also only serving the people and tourists walking, there are no artistic lighting effects. Investing in lighting effects will make visitors more fascinated by the beauty of both sides of the river.

Cuisine must focus on the unique cuisine of Hue. Hue is considered the culinary capital of Vietnam. It is necessary to elevate the culinary culture to serve tourists and create a difference from here. Similarly, the art program is clear that with a land rich in culture like Hue, it is very convenient to exploit and create a difference.

Besides its uniqueness, what services do you think Hue needs to invest in to be worthy and "awaken" river tourism?

I think it is important to invest in infrastructure, services, upgrade marinas, and not let the marinas become dirty. Invest in river experience services, and regular and grand art shows.

River tourism is not only on the water but also on the shore. It is necessary to form appropriate services on the shore, under the water, and walking routes along the river. And, especially, it is necessary to pay attention to environmental sanitation.

Equally important is to have specific instructions for investing in suitable boat models, with standards but creating an impression for tourists to experience.

To attract investors, local authorities and the tourism industry need to have specific projects and mechanisms that are attractive enough to attract them.

Thank you for the conversation!

Huu Phuc (Implementation)