Tourism product gifts Contribute to positioning the brand of the Ancient Capital

Struggling to find a direction for development

Van Lam embroidery village, Ninh Hai commune, Hoa Lu district is one of the craft villages in the province that has focused on developing souvenir products to serve tourists , associated with preserving traditional values of the nation. However, embroidery products made by Van Lam people themselves still account for a very small proportion compared to the volume of goods sold in souvenir shops. The existence of items from other localities has been a reality for many years in Van Lam craft village.

Mr. Vu Thanh Luan, Chairman of the Van Lam Embroidery Village Association, said: Craftsmen in Van Lam embroidery village have focused on providing products for the gift and souvenir market such as: clothes, scarves, bags, wallets, paintings, and photos. However, in reality, the number of products is still very modest, and the designs are not diverse. This stems from the fact that the number of artisans in the village is decreasing, and young people are not very interested in embroidery. In addition, new establishments focus on producing export orders, and have not invested in the gift and souvenir market for sale on the spot.

According to statistics, the province currently has 77 recognized craft villages. Some of them have focused on exploiting the potential for tourism, focusing on creating souvenirs and gifts for tourists, such as Van Lam embroidery village and Sinh Duoc village. However, most of the craft villages are struggling to find a way to exploit this potential.

Mr. Pham Van Vang, Director of Bo Bat Ceramics Preservation and Development Company Limited (Yen Mo District) said: Bo Bat ceramic products are mostly large, fragile, and not easy to transport for tourists, especially the majority of foreign tourists who often travel with a series of itineraries through many countries, so they can buy them as gifts. This is also the obstacle that makes our Bo Bat ceramic products not chosen by many tourists. Finding a solution to this problem is not easy.

Ninh Binh has great potential for producing and consuming tourist gifts and souvenirs, due to its diverse natural and cultural conditions and the large number of tourists every year. In particular, through the program "One Commune One Product", it has contributed to diversifying the gift and souvenir market in Ninh Binh.

By the end of 2023, the whole province will have 183 products classified as OCOP products. Among them, many specialty products are loved by consumers and tourists, such as crispy rice, goat meat, Gia Vien shrimp paste, Yen Mac spring rolls, Kim Son wine, yellow flower tea, herbal teas, honey, etc.

However, according to Dr. Vu Huong Lan, Faculty of Tourism, Hanoi National University, through surveys by her and her colleagues, the proportion of gifts and souvenirs from Ninh Binh only accounts for about 40% of the total number of souvenirs for sale. The products are duplicated, monotonous, have low competitiveness and applicability, are not suitable for many customers, and have low connectivity. Some products do not focus on building brands, exploiting landscape, architectural and cultural values to make the products unique and impressive. This is a waste, because tourist souvenir products not only bring in profits but also contribute significantly to promoting the image of destinations and countries...

Developing products with the identity of the Ancient Capital

For each destination, in addition to tourism resources, typical products, and professional services, gift and souvenir products are considered an attractive factor for tourists. Recently, Ninh Binh province has paid great attention to developing and building souvenir products that are professional, unique, and have local identity to enhance the value of the destination.

According to Dr. Truong Sy Vinh, Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research, the most important solution for the Ninh Binh tourism gift industry is to build products that carry cultural messages and stories and expand marketing channels to promote those products to tourists. At any tourist destination, tourists want to hear stories associated with the product or each destination. If tourist destinations build a cultural story, leading tourists to learn about the product, when they come to the store, they will tend to choose to buy a souvenir whose meaning and value they understand.

According to Mr. Vinh, in addition to paying attention to quality, businesses, manufacturers and cooperatives should pay more attention to changing designs and actively promoting products in many forms so that customers can access them. In addition, there should be connections and cooperation to create gift packages, helping tourists to use products with quality, clear origin, regional specialties in the province and choose products that suit their needs and tastes.

"A gift product for tourists should have many cultural and spiritual meanings, especially it needs to be compact, easy to hold, non-toxic and should use environmentally friendly materials. If it meets the right needs, tourists will remember the product and the destination forever, not just stop between buying and selling" - Dr. Truong Sy Vinh added.

Considering that craft villages play a particularly important role in producing and creating gifts and souvenirs for tourists, Dr. Nguyen Huy Chinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Craft Villages Association, emphasized the need to pay attention to supporting and developing craft villages, from development planning, planning of raw material areas to supporting the promotion and advertising of craft village products on e-commerce channels. In particular, there should be mechanisms and policies to support artisans of traditional craft villages.

"Craft villages with artisans and single families often only know how to work hard with their professional work. They cannot develop their own brand or develop the village into a tourist destination even though they really want to. Space to introduce products and places for visitors to experience is still limited. Therefore, they need help and guidance from all levels and functional sectors," said Mr. Chinh.

Maximizing the advantages to develop the market for diverse and unique souvenirs and tourist gifts will help Ninh Binh promote the green economic sector with great potential to develop in a professional and modern direction, while preserving, promoting and elevating the cultural heritage of the locality. Thereby contributing to creating a brand and positioning tourism in the ancient capital in the hearts of domestic and international tourists.

Minh Hai

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