Ready to spread Dien Bien tourism image beyond national borders

A representative of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration said that this agency will help Dien Bien promote and advertise the local image and the National Tourism Year domestically and internationally at many international forums and events.

A corner of Dien Bien seen from above. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+)

Dien Bien will host the National Tourism Year 2024 – a very special year for this northwestern province in particular and Vietnam in general, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the glorious Dien Bien Phu Victory. The opening ceremony is approaching, although the infrastructure is still facing many difficulties and limitations, the locality is basically ready for the series of major events of the year.

In particular, as the state management agency of Vietnam's smokeless industry, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration Ha Van Sieu said that this unit has been accompanying many activities with Dien Bien.

Spreading Dien Bien's image beyond national borders

- Could you please tell us what practical activities the National Tourism Administration has done to support Dien Bien province in preparing well for the National Tourism Year 2024 and the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory?

Mr. Ha Van Sieu: The National Tourism Year activities with Dien Bien as host are the orientation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The National Tourism Administration together with Dien Bien will develop the content of activities for the whole year 2024 as well as invest and prepare conditions and events to promote the potential and advantages to develop Dien Bien tourism.

The most practical support of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration for Dien Bien through the National Tourism Year is to help the locality promote and advertise its image domestically and internationally in many international forums and events.

*Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration Ha Van Sieu. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)*

Most recently, in January 2024, Dien Bien along with the National Tourism Year 2024 was introduced at the ASEAN Tourism Forum, Laos. The National Tourism Year along with the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory will be the theme throughout the year, associated with other unique values of culture, people, and nature of the heroic Northwest region, to create new tourism products that the National Tourism Administration directs the market towards Dien Bien.

- In addition to supporting the locality to promote and advertise its image as you just mentioned, how will the National Tourism Administration support Dien Bien in preparing facilities to welcome a large number of visitors in 2024, because this is still a weakness of this Northwestern province?

Mr. Ha Van Sieu: The National Tourism Administration has worked with localities to come up with solutions, such as extending and spacing out guests before and after events; as well as guiding local households and communities to participate in the accommodation network so that when there are many guests at peak times, they can be divided into neighboring areas and homestay systems.

The National Tourism Administration also supports Dien Bien in recognizing tourist destinations and accommodation establishments that meet standards, preparing for events and serving tourists coming to the National Tourism Year - Dien Bien 2024.

- Dien Bien has an advantage over other Northwestern provinces thanks to its air routes, so what does the National Tourism Administration expect from Dien Bien's breakthrough after National Tourism Year 2024?

Mr. Ha Van Sieu: We still say 2024 is the year of Dien Bien tourism. The phrase Dien Bien or activities associated with Dien Bien will be mentioned a lot as well as the love for Dien Bien will be realized. In particular, the air route to this locality has been invested in and upgraded, convenient highways have been and are being invested in to help Dien Bien become a star of the Northwest region.

*Representative of the National Tourism Administration introduced the National Tourism Year - Dien Bien 2024 in Laos in January 2024. (Photo: Tourism Information Center)*

The necessary conditions to promote tourism development in Dien Bien are being significantly improved. This is an opportunity from the National Tourism Year that Dien Bien has seized to create a breakthrough for local tourism in particular and Northwest tourism in general.

With the participation of the government, people and businesses in the area connecting other regions across the country, especially Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and the Mekong Delta, we expect that many visitors from the South will go to the North.

Thanks to the air route, Dien Bien has become the gateway to the Northwest and this potential will be exploited, the unique tourism products of the Northwest in general and Dien Bien in particular will take advantage. We expect that in 2024-2025, there will be a breakthrough in the number of visitors to Dien Bien and the Northwest.

Green, clean, healthy is the "golden key"

- The effect of the open visa policy has helped Vietnam welcome more than 1 million international visitors in the last months of 2023 and early 2024. How do you evaluate this result and how to attract tourists to the National Tourism Year - Dien Bien 2024?

Mr. Ha Van Sieu: It can be seen that the number of international visitors to Vietnam is showing signs of strong and positive growth. In January 2024, Vietnam welcomed over 1.5 million international visitors, equal to the highest month in 2019, the time before the pandemic. One of the important factors helping to achieve this result is the open, transparent, and friendly visa policy that is highly appreciated by international friends, creating favorable conditions for tourists to access Vietnam as a destination.

*Ban flower, a flower that represents the identity of the Northwest in general and Dien Bien in particular. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+)*

We believe that visa policy is a necessary condition and we will have to continue to be more open and transparent. However, the important sufficient conditions that need to go hand in hand with visas are service quality, diversity, connectivity readiness, and the attractiveness of new destinations to ensure that the needs of visitors are met. In particular, post-pandemic visitors are very different from before with a changed spending and consumption structure. Now, new tourism products must also adapt to that change.

We can no longer easily invite customers to services like before, but need to hit their practical needs. Because tourists are now calculating and strict in consuming services, they only choose to use truly essential services and tourism products that truly touch emotions, have sustainable values such as Green tourism, environmentally friendly tourism, and health-beneficial tourism.

Vietnam tourism must also improve policies to invest in developing new products, meeting the needs of tourists and especially applying technology to approach the elements of smart tourism. Accordingly, meeting these elements, Dien Bien tourism will "take off", attracting a large number of domestic and international tourists.

- To ensure such a sustainable environment, what recommendations do you have for tourist destinations?

Mr. Ha Van Sieu: For tourist destinations, there must be a new strategy to adapt to the new trend according to the state's policy of Greening and Digitalization, especially there must be a human resource team that can meet that requirement in management.

We recommend that tourist destinations and localities need to invest in applying technology to manage service processes and new products, focusing on the Green, clean, and healthy factors; especially, applying technology to meet practical, personalized needs that only using artificial intelligence and interactive technology can accurately grasp the needs in service provision to satisfy customers.

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