Along with My Son Sanctuary, UNESCO's recognition of Hoi An Ancient Town as a world cultural heritage has become a prominent mark of Quang Nam province after 50 years of liberation. Photo: VINH LOC
This title opens up many opportunities for local socio-economic development, especially in the fields of tourism and services. However, after more than a quarter of a century of conservation and promotion, the heritage value still faces many challenges and has not met expectations.
Pride of Quang Nam
Ms. Ho Thi Thanh Lam - former Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Committee from 1997 to 2007 said that the idea of Quang Nam having a world cultural heritage appeared after the Hue Monuments Complex became Vietnam's first world cultural heritage (December 11, 1993) and Ha Long Bay was recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage (December 17, 1994).
Therefore, right after the province was divided (1997), the preparation of a dossier to request UNESCO to recognize My Son Temple Complex and Hoi An Ancient Town as world cultural heritages was considered by Quang Nam leaders.
In 1997, the cultural sector began to compile the dossier. Hoi An was relatively favorable because there were still many archived documents. On the contrary, information about My Son was very limited because the towers were almost no longer intact, so the province had to ask the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to send experts to support the locality.
Ms. Ho Thi Thanh Lam shared that the title of World Cultural Heritage brings many opportunities and pride to Quang Nam. In particular, the biggest opportunity is to help attract investment in conservation activities, promote heritage values, promote local socio-economic development, while the challenge is to preserve heritage and bring benefits to the community.
Heritage Brand
In Hoi An City, the title of world cultural heritage has truly become the foundation, launching pad, and driving force for socio-economic development, promoting the continuous growth of tourism and services, contributing to creating resources for reinvestment in the work of preserving and maintaining heritage values.
Developing tourism in the outskirts of My Son relic site to share benefits with the community has become an urgent requirement in the coming time (photo of My Son towers B, C, D). Photo: VINH LOC
According to statistics, in the past 15 years, over 400 relics have been restored with a budget of about 150 billion VND. Hundreds of wooden houses in the old quarter have been supported to save them from collapse. Many traditional festivals have been restored, developed and organized regularly to serve tourists.
In particular, the heritage brand has brought about a breakthrough in tourism development. In the early stages, the average growth rate of visitors to Hoi An reached about 20%/year; in the period 2016 - 2019 alone, the average growth rate of total visitors reached 36.83%/year before the COVID-19 pandemic appeared. If in 1999 there were only more than 202 thousand visitors staying in Hoi An, by 2024 this number had increased to 4.426 million, about 22 times more.
Similarly, the effectiveness of the heritage title brought to the My Son temple complex is also very clear. Through support from the governments of Italy, India, Japan, many architectural works in groups A, H, K, E, G... have been firmly restored and preserved. In 2024, My Son welcomed about 457 thousand visitors, surpassing 2019 (the peak before the COVID-19 pandemic).
However, the process of preserving and promoting the value of the two heritages also faces many challenges that need to be resolved. Mr. Nguyen Minh - former Vice Chairman of Duy Xuyen District People's Committee said that the current problem of My Son is not only the need to diversify tourism products and services, but also to share benefits with the community. People must benefit from the heritage title.
“When I was still working, I also directed the development of a project to develop My Son tourism to the outskirts of Thach Ban Lake to diversify destinations and provide jobs for people, but until now, I don't understand why it has not been implemented yet,” said Mr. Minh.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Su - former Secretary of Hoi An City Party Committee said that any development, any stage has challenges. At present, the first challenge of Hoi An is the exploitation of ancient houses to get rich; the overload of the old town, causing many risks, disrupting the quiet space, even polluting the environment, not to mention the risks of fire and explosion...
“Of course, the above problems are difficult but can still be solved if the spatial planning is reasonable. Currently, Hoi An has received many titles, which is a pride but also a pressure; we must find a way to maintain the titles, to meet the expectations of tourists, so that Hoi An is always a place for everyone to return to… This is not simple,” said Mr. Su.
According to Mr. Su, it is time for tourism activities to also consider the quality and sustainability of products and services, and to maintain the reputation and love of tourists.
"In particular, it must be determined that the benefits of the people will also contribute to preserving the heritage, so we must aim to share benefits, whether directly or indirectly, with the community," Mr. Su worried.
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/tu-di-san-van-hoa-the-gioi-3151111.html
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