Create spiritual tourism attraction

Tourists visit Tam Chuc Pagoda (Ha Nam province).

"Gold mine" attracts tourists

Vietnam has more than 41,000 relics and nearly 9,000 festivals, which are abundant resources to promote the development of cultural tourism, including spiritual tourism. Since the beginning of the year, tours to temples, pagodas and historical relics have been chosen by many people. Among them, spiritual tourist destinations such as Huong Pagoda (Hanoi), Hung Temple (Phu Tho), Yen Tu (Quang Ninh), Bai Dinh Pagoda (Ninh Binh), Phu Day, Tran Temple (Nam Dinh), Tam Chuc Pagoda (Ha Nam), Ba Chua Xu Temple (An Giang) ... are being chosen by many tourists.

Before the Lunar New Year, many travel agencies have offered spiritual tourism products with prices ranging from several hundred to several million VND. Specifically, the tour to Tam Chuc Pagoda (Ha Nam) every Saturday and Sunday costs 550,000 VND/person; the tour to Yen Tu and Dong Pagoda (Quang Ninh) costs 900,000 VND/person; the tour to Bai Dinh and Trang An (Ninh Binh) costs 700,000 VND/person... Some one-day tours to Hanoi such as Huong Pagoda (My Duc), Non Nuoc Pagoda - Viet Phu Thanh Chuong (Soc Son), Tram Gian Pagoda - Tram Pagoda (Chuong My) cost 500,000-750,000 VND/person...

Realizing that spiritual tourism is a "gold mine" to attract tourists, for many years now, localities have had plans to innovate in organizing traditional festivals and cultural activities associated with spiritual tourism to increase attraction and create more convenience for tourists. At the Yen Tu festival (Quang Ninh), in addition to the main ceremony, there are also activities such as ringing bells, beating drums, and wishing blessings at the beginning of the year; the Tam Chuc pagoda festival (Ha Nam) organizes an elaborate water procession; the Huong pagoda festival (Hanoi) professionalizes electric car services, sells electronic tickets, etc.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), this year's festival season, localities have prepared well from management, organization to communication and promotion. Therefore, spiritual tourism activities have contributed greatly to increasing the number of visitors. Typically, the capital Hanoi welcomed more than 2.1 million visitors in February 2024, an increase of 7.1% over the same period in 2023, of which the number of visitors traveling for spiritual tourism accounted for the majority; Ninh Binh province welcomed nearly 1.92 million visitors, an increase of 56.3% over the same period last year; Lao Cai province expects spiritual tourism to help the locality complete the target of welcoming 8.5 million visitors in 2024 early...

For four seasons of bountiful harvest

According to experts, spiritual tourism is a trend and strength that many countries are exploiting, becoming a major tourism product with large revenue sources such as: India, Bhutan, Thailand... Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism) Nguyen Anh Tuan said that Vietnam has many potentials and strengths expressed in its rich culture, folk festivals held year-round associated with religion and beliefs. At the same time, the need for tourism and pilgrimage of tourists has become a driving force for the development of spiritual tourism. If exploited well, spiritual tourism will be attractive not only to domestic visitors but also to international visitors.

Sharing this view, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said that spiritual tourism is a very attractive and unique cultural product of Vietnam. The number of tourists participating in spiritual tourism accounts for a significant proportion of the tourist structure.

Although considered a highly attractive product line, experts also say that spiritual tourism in Vietnam is still seasonal, with visitors often concentrated at the beginning and end of the year.

To attract tourists and effectively exploit the "gold mine" of spiritual tourism, Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association Phung Quang Thang said that localities need to have a systematic investment plan for festivals and spiritual relics with outstanding characteristics, creating their own brands. In addition, it is necessary to promote propaganda activities for festivals held in the summer and autumn. According to Director of Hanoitourist Travel Company (Hanoi Tourism Corporation) Le Hong Thai, tourists often tend to visit many places, so localities need to have close connections as well as connect with travel agencies to build attractive spiritual tourism packages and routes with many experiences for tourists.

In Hanoi, cultural tourism, including spiritual tourism, is always considered a strength of the capital's tourism. Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang said that the Hanoi Department of Tourism always recommends that localities pay attention to and constantly improve service quality, renew cultural tourism products with many attractive experiences; strengthen propaganda and promote good cultural and traditional values from festivals, relic sites and heritages. "In the coming time, Hanoi tourism will continue to strengthen links with localities such as Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Bac Giang... to help travel agencies build effective and attractive tour products," said Ms. Dang Huong Giang.

Source