Today’s travelers, especially long-term travelers, want variety and difference in every place they visit. Don’t let them just go to one city and leave.
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| Communications expert Le Quoc Vinh believes that 2024 will be a breakthrough year for the tourism industry. (Photo: NVCC) |
That is the opinion of communications expert Le Quoc Vinh, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Le Invest Corporation, in an interview with the World and Vietnam Newspaper reporter about the opportunities and challenges of Vietnamese tourism in the digital age.
What is your perspective on the tourism picture of our country in the past year? In your opinion, what are the biggest opportunities that Vietnamese tourism can take advantage of to break through in the new era?
2024 is a breakthrough year for the tourism industry. According to the report of the National Tourism Administration, we welcomed 17.5 million international visitors, domestic tourism also reached 110 million visitors. These are impressive results compared to the same period last year.
The tourism industry aims to reach 22-23 million international tourists and 120-130 million domestic tourists by 2025. These are feasible goals in my opinion, because this year has many special opportunities.
The biggest opportunity is the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025). There will be many foreigners, especially from the US, Australia, Europe and overseas Vietnamese who want to come to Vietnam. Not only veterans or those with relatives related to the Vietnam War, but also young people will want to witness the changes of a victorious country, rising above the ruins of war to develop and innovate.
A great opportunity for our country's tourism industry is the growing trend of cultural experiences. Vietnam's unique and diverse culture has great appeal to international tourists and young people in the country. Watch the video series on YouTube or TikTok made by foreigners about their experiences on every corner of Vietnam to understand what attracts them to the roads, houses, production activities and culture. Today's tourism is not just about looking and watching anymore, tourists want to immerse themselves in the lives of local people, decipher interesting things for themselves and share their experiences.
Vietnam's position in the international arena as well as the achievements of businesses and people in recent times are the factors that create curiosity and charm of the country for tourists.
With the strong development of technology, how do you evaluate the application of technology in tourism activities in Vietnam?
Digital technology naturally impacts all aspects of the economy and society, including tourism. Digital media platforms will give us more tools, more visual, more direct access to promote unique elements of culture, people and tourism products to target audiences. The development of content creation tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), is also a very good condition for us to be able to produce low-cost promotional products, in large quantities, to approach a variety of topics and expand so that everyone can participate in promoting Vietnamese tourism.
I think that it is not a matter of choosing this technology or that technology for the tourism industry, but choosing the technology that can best convey the content and message to the right target audience. For example, virtual reality (VR) technology will be very good for introducing cultural spaces, museums, art galleries. However, augmented reality (AR) technology will create easy interactions on personal mobile devices. AI can create great virtual tour guides. Blockchain technology can bring unique digital products, easy copyright protection...
Video or still images are still visual and engaging media products. The best technology is the one that fully and effectively conveys the content you want to convey, and the best media platform is the one that is appropriate for the target audience.
Sustainable tourism is a global trend. What do you suggest about developing sustainable tourism in our country?
Along with the general development trend, sustainable tourism is an option in the new era. Sustainable tourism is a form of tourism that respects the natural development of the land and people you visit and experience. In particular, supporting the development of unique tourism products, protecting the living environment and supporting the development of local ecosystems is an important requirement.
Vietnam is also very aware of this trend and has had certain policies for each locality and each tourist destination. For example, last year, Con Dao island district coordinated with Vietnam Airlines to build a pilot project of "light flights to Con Dao" from Ho Chi Minh City, with the goal of reducing carbon emissions and limiting plastic waste.
Intrepid Company continuously organizes tourist groups to visit and experience making handicrafts with the disabled at Vun Art, Ha Dong... Many hotels and resorts have chosen environmentally friendly solutions, or combined the construction of tourism products to experience local culture, both introducing indigenous culture and supporting local people to sell goods and support their livelihoods. I see many Vietnamese travel companies organizing responsible tours, eco-tourism, focusing on high-end customer groups.
However, these are still individual programs and tours, not a universal strategy in Vietnam. We also do not have any special policies for sustainable tourism. To do sustainable tourism, we will have to invest more, spend more, and sometimes even sacrifice short-term benefits to invest in long-term development goals.
Investors in this type of sustainable tourism need to be encouraged and supported by policies, preferential taxes, or given priority to exploiting exclusive cultural tourism products. These are the things we should think about so that sustainable tourism can truly become a strength of Vietnam.
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| Xoan singing at Hung Lo communal house - a unique tourism product of Phu Tho loved by foreign tourists. (Source: cand) |
What challenges is Vietnamese tourism facing in the process of integration and competition with other countries in the region, in your opinion?
Speaking of challenges, we still have inherent bottlenecks. Transport infrastructure remains a difficult problem, especially in urban areas. Attitude, spirit and service culture in many places are still complained by tourists.
Another issue that many experts are beginning to mention and bring into debate is the trend of excessive urbanization in many tourist destinations, erasing our real competitive advantages. Specifically, it is nature, indigenous life, and unique culture in each land.
In addition, there is something that I would like to call “completization” of tourism products, which means copying the tourism product model and applying it to every destination, losing the diversity and richness of culture. Tourists today, especially those who travel for a long time, want to find diversity and difference in every place they go. Don’t let them just go to one city and then leave.
In your opinion, to attract international tourists, what tourism products should Vietnam focus on? And how to promote those products effectively?
Of course it is cultural tourism. Tourists need comfortable hotels that suit their different needs, need beautiful beaches, restaurants, bars for rest, relaxation and entertainment. But those are not the things that attract them to Vietnam, but our culture, the way we preserve traditions, the way of life, cultural products, folk songs, Vietnamese language, cuisine, handicrafts and the way we promote traditional materials in contemporary life.
But if we want more tourists to come to Vietnam, they must hear, read, and see about Vietnamese culture. Therefore, promoting Vietnamese culture, bringing the breath of Vietnamese culture to international friends, to target markets is the right thing to do. Movies, videos, books, art performances, talks from people who have experienced and contemplated through their own time, through their own eyes.
We are familiar with the things that need to be promoted, but how to say it, how to do it, and how to express it are not good enough. In today's interactive media world, if we still maintain a one-way promotion style, lacking interaction and real experiences, it will certainly be less effective.
What are your expectations for the future of Vietnam tourism in 2025 and the coming years?
The goal of Vietnam tourism in 2025 is not difficult to achieve, because we have some "golden" opportunities. However, the opportunities will be missed if we do not know how to grasp and utilize them effectively.
I am still concerned that Vietnam's tourism promotion agencies are still following the old path, using old, ineffective communication channels, one-way communication methods, and low interaction, which is a waste of the modest budget we have. If we know how to do modern marketing, change the way we do marketing and communication, the effectiveness will increase many times over.
I still have faith that Vietnam tourism will grow strongly in 2025 and the coming years, if there are no unusual fluctuations. However, we must act correctly and boldly change the promotion method, then this opportunity will become a reality.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/can-nang-tam-du-lich-van-hoa-viet-de-du-khach-tim-thay-su-khac-biet-o-moi-noi-ho-den-303062.html
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