Vietnam tourism "transforms" in the race with ASEAN countries and the world

Vietnam needs to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN countries to create common tourism products, develop international tourism routes, increase attractiveness and competitiveness...

Vietnam has great potential for sustainable tourism development. (Source: baocongthuong)

Potential to attract international tourists

Vietnam is a country with favorable conditions for tourism development, especially sustainable tourism. Our country has many beautiful and unique locations, many famous landscapes and landscapes that have been voted in the list of the most beautiful locations in the world, many historical and cultural relics... Currently, Vietnam has more than 40,000 relics and landscapes, of which more than 3,000 relics are ranked as national relics, 5,000 relics are ranked as provincial relics.

Our country is also one of the few countries in the world recognized by UNESCO as having many heritages such as Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Hoi An ancient town, Trang An scenic complex, Hue ancient capital, Ho Dynasty Citadel, My Son Sanctuary... Moreover, Vietnam also has famous intangible cultural heritages such as Hue Royal Court Music, Central Highlands gong cultural space, ca tru, quan ho, hat xoan, Giong festival... to attract international tourists.

However, besides the potential, Vietnam's tourism industry has not yet fully exploited its available potential. According to many experts, the professionalism in building tourism products and promoting them is not high. Vietnam's tourism products are slow to innovate, still quite monotonous, lacking in uniqueness, lacking in creativity, and overlapping between regions. At the same time, promotion and promotion work still has many limitations, is not really professional, and not systematic.

Not only that, the management and exploitation of tourism resources have not been implemented effectively. The quality of tourism human resource training is still limited, not adapting to the trend of global integration and competition. In particular, the Vietnamese tourism industry is also facing many challenges from fierce competition from countries in the region such as Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia when these countries have had very large investment and promotion strategies to increase the attractiveness to international tourist markets.

Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage. (Source: Baoninhbinh)

Identify challenges and opportunities

Vietnam tourism received 54 awards at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Regional Awards Ceremony of the World Travel Awards, continuing to affirm the brand and position of Vietnam tourism on the world tourism map.

At the National Online Conference "Developing Vietnam's tourism rapidly and sustainably", Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that tourism is identified as a spearhead economic sector, contributing significantly to job creation, people's livelihoods, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and at the same time, is a bridge for practical and effective international exchange, so that tourists from all over the world can visit, experience, understand more, share more, and love more the country, culture and people of Vietnam...

According to the Prime Minister, the tourism situation has improved recently. By the end of October 2023, the total number of international tourists reached about 10 million, domestic tourists reached 99 million, which is a bright spot, making a positive and important contribution to the overall socio-economic recovery and development of the country.

However, tourism still faces many difficulties and challenges, such as the number of international tourists in the first 10 months of 2023 was only 69% compared to the same period in 2019 (before the pandemic). In addition, the tourism industry has faced many challenges and obstacles over the past years. Therefore, it is important that we identify difficulties, challenges, opportunities, and advantages, and must innovate our thinking, methodology, and better approach.

Dr. Trinh Le Anh believes that Vietnam needs to innovate tourism products and cultural experiences. (Photo: NVCC)

Develop unique tourism products

According to tourism and event expert, Dr. Trinh Le Anh, Head of the Department of Event Management, Faculty of Tourism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, to develop Vietnam's tourism quickly and sustainably, it is necessary to implement measures to innovate tourism products, to increase competitiveness with countries in the ASEAN region and the world. In particular, developing unique tourism products, emphasizing cultural experiences, adventure tourism, eco-tourism, MICE tourism, sports tourism to attract diverse tourists.

Dr. Trinh Le Anh said: "It is necessary to improve the quality of tourism-related services, from transportation and accommodation, food and beverage to entertainment activities, to create a positive impression on tourists. Encourage sustainable tourism, promote sustainable tourism activities, reduce negative impacts on the environment and local areas, as well as enhance education on responsible tourism."

At the same time, increase access to technology, use technology to improve the tourism experience, including mobile applications, tourism information websites and smart utility solutions. However, do not abuse technology to the point of losing the authenticity of the destination and tourism resources.

In addition, strengthening cooperation with countries in the ASEAN region to create common tourism products and develop international tourism routes that can attract a wide range of tourists. In this way, Vietnam can increase its attractiveness and competitiveness in the regional and international tourism market.

"Sustainable tourism is considered a key factor in helping destinations maintain their reputation and competitive brands. It is necessary to focus on training and developing tourism human resources to meet the requirements of competition and integration," Dr. Trinh Le Anh shared.

Regarding training and development of tourism human resources focusing on sustainable tourism and meeting the requirements of competition and integration, according to Dr. Le Anh, the following measures can be considered: First , develop in-depth training and coaching programs on sustainable tourism, from environmental management to community management, to improve the skills and awareness of human resources in the tourism industry. Create conditions for tourism experts to learn from different fields such as environment, culture and economics to have a multi-dimensional view and multi-disciplinary skills.

Second , establish policies to support and encourage sustainable tourism businesses, possibly through tax incentives, economic benefits, or special incentive programs.

Third, build cooperation between the tourism industry and research institutions to study and apply the latest advances in the field of sustainable tourism.

Fourth , develop assessment and certification standards for sustainable tourism businesses, helping to build credibility and attract tourists interested in this issue.

“With the above methods, I believe the tourism industry can ensure that human resources are properly trained and develop in a sustainable manner. From there, it can maintain its reputation and competitive brand in the international market, rather than competing for titles in tourism awards, which only have a marketing impact in the early stages of market access,” said Dr. Trinh Le Anh.

Source