Souvenir products and goods serving tourists need to be associated with each tour and route.

Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting. Attending the meeting were representatives of the Department of Industry and Trade (the unit in charge of the Project) and representatives of relevant departments and branches. Photo: Cong Kien

Products and souvenirs are still monotonous.

Every year, Nghe An welcomes about 5 million tourists, in 2018 alone it welcomed about 6 million visitors.

However, in reality, tourists to Nghe An often have difficulty choosing products that reflect the identity and tradition of each locality. The gift market is still monotonous and has not left an impression on tourists, although there are many traditional craft villages in the province.

This has significantly affected the attraction and development of the tourism sector. Therefore, the requirement is to build the province's tourism industry to develop commensurate with its inherent potential, bring in income, and contribute to improving life. On that basis, it is necessary to research and develop products and souvenirs to serve tourists.

Project on Developing a number of souvenir products and goods to serve tourists in Nghe An province in the period of 2019 - 2025 aims to exploit the tourism potential of the province, attract many workers to participate in the profession, create stable income, contribute to the socio-economic development of localities. Create products with high sophistication and quality, serve the shopping needs of tourists to increase sales revenue, contribute to promoting and expanding the market for craft village products.

Comrade Nguyen Huu Cuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade reported on the Project. Photo: Cong Kien

From there, mobilize all classes of people and economic sectors to participate in investing in building a tourism environment, taking advantage of the intellectual and material contributions of artisans, skilled workers, businesses and local trade associations, contributing to making Nghe An a tourism center of the North Central region and a key tourism destination of the whole country.

Standardize 100% of souvenir products

Based on the current situation of production and trading of souvenir products and goods serving tourists in the area, the Project sets the goal of standardizing 100% of souvenir products; successfully building 2-3 models of Cultural Tourism Villages associated with the production of souvenir products; contributing to increasing tourism revenue by 18-20%/year, the proportion of production of handicraft products and craft villages remains stable at 8-10% in the total industrial production value of the whole province...

Weaving products of people in Diem village, Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong). Photo: Cong Kien

Orientation to build souvenir products to serve tourists including groups: Handicraft products; processed agricultural products, food; processed seafood; beverages, herbs; jewelry, costumes.

Each of these product groups is arranged with production orientation, consumption system development orientation and implementation solutions. The funding for implementing the Project is partly supported by the State budget and the rest is from socialized sources.

In contributing to the project, representatives from departments and branches focused on adding a number of souvenir product categories, locations to display typical products of each locality and solutions to implement the project. At the same time, there should be support policies in building booths and houses displaying tourism products; promoting socialization, enhancing propaganda and promotion...

Comrade Nguyen Manh Loi - Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism suggested adding some products to the list of products and souvenirs serving tourists. Photo: Cong Kien

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh affirmed: The project needs to be built on the spirit of an open mechanism, meaning it is not limited in time and space. At the same time, it is necessary to add to the project the content of human resource training; types of products associated with each tour, tourist route, and traditional products; and add some typical products of the localities.

Research and develop requirements for product quality inspection; continue to research solutions; promote close linkages between sectors in implementation. The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Department of Industry and Trade to continue to edit the topics according to comments from departments and sectors, supplement and complete the Project to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval and promulgation.