The guiding and guiding role of state management of tourism

Developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector is identified as an important strategic orientation of many countries, including Vietnam. To achieve this, the role of state management of tourism is indispensable in creating positive impacts, ensuring a healthy legal environment, helping tourism develop effectively and sustainably.

Tourists visit Thung Nham Eco-tourism Area, Ninh Binh Province.

In recent times, Vietnam's tourism has developed rapidly in both scale and quality. In 2023, with the determination to accelerate the recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire tourism industry welcomed 12.5 million international visitors, far exceeding the target of 8 million visitors set at the beginning of the year; at the same time, serving 108 million domestic visitors, exceeding the annual plan by 5.8%; total revenue from tourism is estimated at 672 trillion VND, exceeding the 2023 plan by 3.38%.

In addition, the image of Vietnamese tourism has also been identified and positioned more clearly on the world map, with a series of prestigious international awards, contributing to making Vietnam a country with a high ranking in the assessment of global tourism competitiveness. To achieve the above achievements, there is a significant contribution from the state management of tourism in 2023.

This was demonstrated when for the first time, two national conferences on tourism chaired by the Prime Minister were held in one year, making the goal of recovering and promoting rapid and sustainable tourism development a common determination. A number of prominent policies to remove barriers in tourism development have been issued, typically: Resolution No. 82/NQ-CP of the Government on promoting rapid and sustainable tourism development; Resolution 127/NQ-CP of the Government on applying electronic visas to citizens of countries, territories, and international border gates allowing foreigners to enter and exit with electronic visas; Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP dated August 14, 2023 of the Government on amending Resolution No. 32/NQ-CP dated March 15, 2022 of the Government on visa exemption for citizens of other countries.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism an Action Plan to implement Resolution No. 82/NQ-CP; Vietnam Tourism Marketing Strategy to 2030; Project on several models for developing night tourism products to 2030; Set of criteria for evaluating the National Digital Platform on tourism management and business... It can be seen that state management of tourism has truly demonstrated its role in orienting and leading the development of the country's tourism.

However, according to experts, in the current situation, Vietnamese tourism still has limitations in terms of product quality, services, promotion, etc., especially in the context of the world having many fluctuations with increasing pressure on destination competition and the strong development of the digital revolution, state management activities on tourism also require innovation in methods, in order to promote more strongly the regulation, guidance, supervision, helping tourism have conditions to break through.

Dr. Truong Sy Vinh, Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research, said that the top priority is to improve the State's legal system on tourism. According to Mr. Vinh, tourism investment is an extremely important factor to promote tourism development, but currently, tourism development investment policies are almost not prioritized compared to other fields. Developing the night-time economy associated with attracting tourists still has many problems in terms of planning, security and order, environmental protection, labor, etc. Many new business models related to tourism such as the sharing economy, vacation sharing, condotel business, etc. are still not strictly regulated.

In addition, the quality of tourism products in Vietnam is not highly appreciated, but there are almost no criteria and standards for product quality. Therefore, reviewing the current legal system on tourism and developing a direction for improvement is extremely necessary. The Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research also noted that in the new context, state management of tourism needs to improve the capacity to forecast changes in socio-economic life in the region and the world and the ability to impact the tourism industry, thereby providing suggestions and directions to reduce the "shock" from market disadvantages.

Presenting a report on the current state management of tourism by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism at the Workshop "Implementing state management of tourism in 2023", Mr. Ngo Hai Duong, Chief of Office of the Department frankly stated: Destination management, ensuring safety and security for tourists, creating a healthy business environment are some of the limitations that need to be mentioned, especially when the phenomenon of foreigners hiding under the guise of working as tour guides, unlicensed tourism businesses, violations of deposit conditions, false advertising... still occurs.

According to experts, to push back this situation, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and supervision, especially supervision of compliance with reduced and simplified tourism business conditions; have sanctions that are strong enough to deter violations; and at the same time encourage the participation of people and businesses in building a cultural, civilized, friendly and hospitable tourism environment.

Regarding promotion and advertising, which has long been considered a weakness of Vietnamese tourism, especially in the international market, to improve the effectiveness of state management, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Nguyen Hong Minh proposed that the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism should advise the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop a comprehensive strategy for promoting and advertising Vietnamese tourism in the international market, focusing on the following contents: Developing a cooperation plan with a number of large and reputable international media partners to promote and advertise Vietnamese tourism in general; coordinating with reputable international brands in the tourism sector to position the Vietnamese service and tourism brand in the direction of high-end, quality, serving high-spending customers...

Faced with the current situation of tourism development linkages between central and local management agencies, between the state and enterprises, between components such as travel agencies - accommodation establishments - tourist areas, destinations - supporting services that have not yet been put into practice, leading to fragmented coordination and cooperation activities, experts emphasized the need to pay special attention to further promoting the guiding role of national tourism agencies and the leading role of major tourism centers to form linked regions and driving forces for tourism growth.

Tourism is an interdisciplinary and inter-regional economic sector, but the mindset of developing tourism in a “everyone for themselves” manner still exists, so there is not yet a strong enough “handshake” to create competitive advantages for products and promote the resource advantages of each region and each locality. This reality requires clear and feasible legal regulations to strengthen inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination in tourism management and development.

Along with that is the innovation of state management methods on tourism to adapt to the development of science and technology based on a strong and shared data platform, contributing to the sustainable and effective development of Vietnamese tourism, truly becoming a spearhead economic sector.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vai-tro-dinh-huong-dan-dat-cua-cong-toc-quan-ly-nha-nuoc-ve-du-lich-post794569.html

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