Travelling back to nature

Vietnam International Travel Mart Hanoi 2024

Date: April 11-14

Location: Hanoi International Exhibition Centre ICE - Hanoi Cultural Friendship Palace

91 Tran Hung Dao street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi

Building brand themes is a must for tourism sector

Nguyen Van Lanh, peputy chairman, Hoi An City People’s Committee

Hoi An’s tourism development involves many different departments and parties, and the city’s tourism is starting to benefit from many different travel businesses’ strategies. The role of businesses in leading activities created by the state is obvious. Hoi An is organising events at the scale of a tourist city with the participation of many businesses.

We are developing Hoi An through maintaining the tourism executive board, having a network of businesses to participate in activities, and using the involvement of the local community. The city has issued a resolution for the building of digital databases, digitalisation in management and communication, and the application for the digitalisation of services, brands, and traditional and modern tourism products to properly highlight the title of “Creative City”.

We are referring to countries like Australia, which succeeded in establishing a data mapping system connecting related objects, suppliers, and associated products to work together to find common development, without overlapping and conflicting interests.

They also build brand themes and data maps. At a local scale, they have small themes aligned with large themes, and auditing operators. They establish an experience economy and a transformational economy capable of changing the habits and consumption behaviour of tourists.

Green criteria assessment system is needed

Pham Vu Dung, director, Rose Travel

The basis of the current green criteria assessment system is not interconnected. Many travel companies still follow the direction of the world media. They also want to know how green certification can be put into practice. All of these questions are weighing heavily on businesses. So, it is necessary to have a data system, which is needed to determine the number of businesses and tourists.

The current customer base is changing, we need to collect the data sources longer. The city is implementing an eco-hub page to compile statistics on green service providers, The association is also deploying a website, but it is still very rudimentary. We hope businesses will work together to develop it into a valuable platform for the community.

Organising forums is necessary. At the event, then individuals and businesses will tell state management about their demand and their proposals. In addition, organising farm trips will also help businesses connect with people to create finished products, but then they also need a forum to discuss for people to respond to the tourism development process in their locality.

There must be a channel in the green service group so that survey trips or trips to foreign fairs have the participation of a true business unit. People’s councils play a vital role in advising and supporting local businesses.

Green tourism models require supportive policies

Le Ngoc Thuan, founder, Cui Lu Village

Travel businesses face challenges in launching new products, not only in this country but also elsewhere. There is currently an accommodation surplus, so if we continue to the development of accommodation facilities, it will be difficult to create unique strengths. We should choose outstanding tourism models.

The subject of linkage accommodation facilities should be discussed at forums such as this one. We need these forums to focus deeply on the various problems to form a solidarity community for travel businesses. Cui Lu’s model means we look for opportunities to be linked together with others, creating a green area to attract more investors and other businesses to invest in small models to spread more value. We also want to connect with other travel businesses to create solidarity.

It takes a lot of time to develop a green tourism model, and it requires a raft of supportive policies. Consumer behaviour now has changed a lot in the past few years towards people who want experiences and products with stories. As far as craft villages go, it is necessary to clearly define their story.

It is necessary to provide a list of green tourism suppliers

Pham Que Anh, director, Hoi An Express

Investing in green tourism products is costly, and businesses should consider current products and renovate destinations and review which products tourists like the most through data. The current database system is incomplete and of poor quality.

There is lack of a common database system that focuses on providing information for business people to know the number of customers; and information for the incoming market (statistics of total visitors’ arrival data are very out of date). It is necessary to provide a list of green suppliers to support businesses providing green tourism products. There is no database system yet, thus customers are facing difficulties.

For example, for specific products for each locality, there is no unified platform. There are currently many platforms, making it very difficult for tourists to access. Publishing information in a rudimentary way, with suppliers providing standardised and complete data, requires brainstorming and platform development.