Hanoi takes measures to stimulate visitors’ spending

People take a photo with flowers on Hanoi's street. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – Besides measures to attract more visitors, Hanoi is also paying attention to encouraging visitors to spend more and stay longer in the capital city.

Authorities and agencies in Hanoi’s districts, townships, and tourism-commercial enterprises have paid attention to providing tourists with services and products but just on a small scale and in a spontaneous way.

According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, the city has 29 food service establishments, 51 shopping establishments, nine entertainment establishments, and one sport establishment certified to meet standards for serving tourists. The establishments have initially attracted and served a large number of visitors and local people.

The city has also recognised more than 2,000 products under the One Commune-One Product (OCOP) programme, accounting for about 22 per cent of total OCOP products across the country. The OCOP products are a potential source of goods to serve tourists, but localities have not strongly promoted consumption through tourism channels.

Nhu Thi Ngan, General Director of Hanoi Tourism Investment Joint Stock Company, said that if Hanoi has an area to introduce OCOP products, travel agencies can take tourists there to shop for these items.

The city planned an outlet area on the route to Noi Bai airport in Soc Son district, she said, adding that it’s a good idea to sell OCOP products there.

Meanwhile, as Hanoi is a transit point to northern provinces, tourists often spend a few days in the city and then travel to other localities. For a long time, it has been a pending problem for Hanoi to keep visitors stay longer in the city.

According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, in 2022, the average room occupancy rate of 1-5 star hotels in the city was about 41.2 per cent, an increase of 18.3 per cent over the same period in 2021. In the first eight months of 2023, the rate reached 61.4 per cent, an increase of 28.5 per cent over the same period last year.

To encourage visitors stay longer, the city’s tourism sector has focused on developing highly specific products such as golf tourism, Red River tourism, nighttime tourism, culinary tourism, and autumn tourism.

Chairman of the Hanoi Tourism Association Nguyen Manh Than said that it is now a favourable time to welcome international visitors to Vietnam, the city’s tourism industry needs to focus on building unique products and launching new events while it still needs to improve the quality of tourism services.

According to tourism experts and businesses, more tourism promotion activities are needed to attract visitors to the city.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang said that the city is implementing measures. For example, Hanoi reduces and simplifies regulations related to tourism business activities. In addition, the city identified to attract investment in tourism, promote communication activities, and improve the quality of human resources training for the sector.

In the first eight months of this year, Hanoi attracted 16.9 million tourists, including 2.79 million foreign visitors. Its total revenue from tourists was estimated at 61.6 trillion VND (2.55 billion USD), up 63.1 per cent over the same period last year.

The city planned to attract 22 million visitors this year, including 3 million foreign holidaymakers.

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