Looking for 'greetings' for Nghe An tourism

(Baonghean) - Logo and slogan are the two main elements that make up the brand identity that any local or national tourism industry must have.Nghe An has a tourism logo but still lacks a slogan. Finding a slogan for Nghe An tourism is gradually becoming urgent in the context of the province's tourism industry having significant improvements.

Brand positioning

About ten years ago, if you visited some booths of Nghe An tourism at tourism and trade fairs, you would easily see the words “Nghe An - the homeland of President Ho Chi Minh”. That was an affirmation, a reminder to visitors from near and far about the characteristics of Nghe An and Nghe An tourism.

Not exactly a slogan, but in the context of that time, that line created its own value, bringing good impressions and effects. Up to now, for most domestic tourists, when talking about Nghe An tourism, they immediately think of Uncle Ho's hometown. However, under the strong changes and development needs of the current and future tourism industry, if the impression of Nghe An tourism is still only like that, it is not good.

Mr. Vo Ba Nguyen - founder of Vinh Guru - a travel agency that often organizes tours for foreigners, frankly shared: "For a long time, we have mistakenly thought that the two tourist destinations in Nghe An that everyone knows are Uncle Ho's hometown and Cua Lo beach, but that is not the case.

Tourists kayak on Thanh Chuong tea island. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Most of the foreign tourists we have welcomed in the past have no idea about Nghe An tourism. Nghe An is just a stopover on their journey to the South and the North. To retain customers, we have to proactively introduce and convince them about the destinations within the province and in fact, foreign tourists prefer to explore and experience community tourism in Western Nghe An the most.

Mr. Vo Ba Nguyen believes that at this time, finding a slogan for the province's tourism is necessary. The number of foreign visitors to Nghe An is gradually increasing. In the first 6 months of 2017, international visitors were estimated at 39,400, an increase of 20% over the same period in 2016. International visitors are very interested in first impressions, while the professionalism of a tourism industry is first and foremost reflected in the tourism brand identity.

Agreeing with Mr. Vo Ba Nguyen, Mr. Tran Ngoc Khoan - Vice President of Nghe An Tourism Association affirmed that every professional must complete the brand identity criteria. Slogan is like a greeting, an impressive affirmation and promise of the most unique and attractive features for tourists from near and far. If there is a slogan and combined with an existing tourism logo, tourism promotion and advertising activities will be more professional, remaining in the memory of tourists longer.

Slogan must be confident and different

Confidence and difference are two factors that any brand aims for, especially tourism brands. Nghe An tourism logo has partly succeeded in these two factors. Mr. Truong Hai Linh - Director of the Provincial Tourism Promotion Information Center said that in 2013, the province organized a contest to design a model of Nghe An tourism logo.

Boat racing at Cua Lo River Festival. Photo: Thanh Cuong

At that time, hundreds of designs were sent by authors inside and outside the province, many of them were attractive and unique. After screening, in July 2013, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 3023/QD-UBND on announcing the symbol of Nghe An tourism, recognizing the work of author Nguyen Phuoc Duc in Ho Chi Minh City with a lotus petal design like a pair of friendly, welcoming, open hands; like a ship reaching out to cross the ocean with faith in the development of the available potential of Nghe An tourism in the current integration trend.

The words Nghe An Tourism are elegant and gentle, combined below the logo to create an impressive view. Many travel businesses say that, compared to many tourism logos of localities nationwide, the Nghe An tourism logo is quite impressive, eye-catching and businesses are very confident and proud to display the logo of their province's tourism in their promotional publications.

The success of the logo design contest motivated the Nghe An Tourism industry to organize a slogan writing contest, which was included in the industry's 2018 action plan. This is a good sign for those concerned about the development of tourism in the province, however, there are also some notes and concerns.

Some people think that each slogan is always accompanied by a specific action program, the slogan shows the development orientation of the tourism industry, for example, the orientation of developing sea and island tourism, the slogan cannot highlight community tourism and vice versa. On the other hand, the goal of the slogan is to create a deep impression on tourists, so the slogan must have lasting, long-term value, cannot be vague, general and short-term vision.

Mr. Truong Hai Linh - Director of the Tourism Promotion Information Center said that through the contest, the tourism industry hopes to create a widespread social effect, promoting Nghe An tourism. Like any other creative field, the slogan writing contest certainly cannot avoid conflicting opinions, it is difficult to please everyone, however, to find an attractive, suitable "greeting" towards the professionalism of Nghe An tourism, perhaps all the difficulties are worth it!

Phuoc Anh