National Tourism Year 2010: Attraction of Vietnam's Tourism

The National Tourism Year 2010 to be held in Hanoi will be the biggest national tourism event next year. Tourism activities throughout the year, thus, will not only harmonize with programs to mark the 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, but also connect closely with the socio-economic development process of the capital city in particular and the whole country in general, Mr Dung said, adding that the national tourism year 2010 must also help advertise Hanoi as a attractive destination in the region and the world.     

How will the National Tourism Year 2010 help promote Hanoi tourism development?
The 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the National Tourism Year 2010 will surely be golden opportunities to advertise Hanoi as an attractive, safe and friendly destination with special characters of a capital which has a 1,000-year-long history. That the National Tourism Year 2010 will be held in Hanoi for the first time, plus with the 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi to be organized on the large scale will help intentional friends understand more clearly about the capital city of Vietnam. Particularly video clips of Hanoi’s traditional images and landscapes will help foreign and domestic tourists feel the beauty, safety and hospitality of the capital city. These will be strengths of the country’s tourism in general and Hanoi in particular.

 

Could you share difficulties in preparing for the 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the National Tourism Year 2010?
Because the spending for tourism promotion for Hanoi is very scanty, which had been calculated only VND2,000 per international arrival to Hanoi till 2008, the city’s tourism promotion work face many difficulties. However, the municipal tourism sector has strived to arrange suitable promotion programs. In addition, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Administration of Tourism have given supports to the capital city to promote its tourism. The sector is trying its utmost to possibly socialize the tourism development since the socialization plays an important role in advertisement work. However, the socialization can not replace completely the spending and state budget for tourism promotion because their nature is different.     

For example, the state management is to advertise destinations and help international tourists know Vietnam and Hanoi while enterprises’ advertisement is to promote trademarks, introduce products and boost selling. However, if the tourism sector does well the socialization, it will remarkably contribute to the tourism promotion in general.

 

Which special programs and tours are designed for National Tourism Year 2010? Apart from products which have become Hanoi’s special trademarks, the city’s tourism sector is still calling on enterprises to develop and improve further their tours and products. The sector is striving to create more special tourism products like the tour through ancient citadels, the Hanoi Gastronomy Festival, the movement of “Hanoians welcome guests”, the green tourism year, the Thang Long – Hanoi International Tourism Festival 2010, and the “dresses of three regions” festival.    

All tours and tourism products have been already named in the national tourism year 2010. The city’s tourism sector is now surveying, preparing for contents in order to help travel firms design their own tours.  

How will the long lasting culture of Hanoi be promoted?
Hanoi converges quintessence of different regions, even receives selectively cultural characters of other areas in the world such as Chinese culture, French culture reflected through ancient street architectures. The variety shows the integration of Hanoi native culture with cultures of other regions, becoming an own character of the capital city of Vietnam. Besides, the city’s tourism sector will also try to exploit the values of an original Hanoi, which is home to elegant Trang An people on the occasion of the two events.