Connecting heritage sites to attract tourists

By connecting heritage sites, tourists from all over the world will have impressive and interesting experiences.

With 18 World Heritages recognized by UNESCO, including 2 natural heritages, 5 cultural heritages, 8 intangible cultural heritages and 3 documentary heritages, Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark... Vietnam has the conditions to connect cultural heritages to serve tourism. Thereby, creating resources for the preservation, restoration and promotion of the value of world heritages, so that heritages are truly sparkling gems in the eyes of friends from all over the world.

In Vietnam, linking the exploitation of heritages and cultural festivals to develop tourism has been implemented by a number of localities for many years. Thereby, many heritage tourism products have been shaped and built by travel agencies into tours to introduce to tourists such as "Heritage Journey", "Legendary My Son Night" of Quang Nam, Hue Festival, or Da Nang International Fireworks Festival, Flower City Festival - Da Lat, Central Highlands Gong Festival... Mr. Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said that linking is a vital condition for tourism, implemented on the basis of harmonizing products, cultural customs, means of transport, and travel distance between heritages.

Trang An scenic spot with beautiful scenery

“A tour is a combination of different tourism products. Visitors to Con Son - Kiep Bac can also visit Vinh Nghiem and other tourist attractions. Visitors to Yen Tu can also connect with Bac Giang. Visitors cannot visit all the pagodas at once. They only need to visit one, two or three pagodas. The rest of the time, they have to visit craft villages, go shopping, eat and stay,” said Mr. Binh. Those initial results are the basis for the 2015 National Tourism Year held in Thanh Hoa to continue with the theme “Connecting World Heritages”. Especially when last year, Thanh Hoa’s “neighbors” Ninh Binh with the Trang An scenic complex and Nghe Tinh with Nghe Tinh Vi and Giam folk songs were honored by UNESCO as World Cultural Heritages.

The main activities of the Tourism Year 2015 take place in the context of the ancient historical land of Thanh Hoa, bringing tourists back to the unique cultural, historical and architectural values ​​of the Ho Dynasty Citadel, associated with the short but miraculous life and career of King Ho Quy Ly; reliving the heroic history of the Lam Son uprising through the historical and cultural relic system in Lam Kinh, enjoying the folk songs imbued with the breath of life of the people of Thanh Hoa. The problem is how to promote these heritages to tourists.

Vi and Giam festivals and performances are held regularly in Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

Dr. Hoa Dieu Thuy, Hong Duc University said: “Going to Lam Kinh, I was amazed by Lam Kinh. But if I could take a cruise to listen to the Ma River songs, or go to Tho Xuan to listen to the folk songs and dances performed by artists, I would be even more amazed. The only thing is that no one has promoted it yet. Therefore, it is still in a latent state.”

To awaken those hidden resources, this year, localities have determined to promote the connection of heritage sites, with tourism activities taking place vigorously in almost all provinces and cities to introduce to tourists the unique values ​​of the World Cultural Heritage of Vi, Giam Nghe Tinh; visit Trang An heritage, go to Bai Dinh pagoda to worship Buddha. In particular, cultural, ecological - spiritual tourism will be the sustainable development direction of this area.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ninh Binh said: “Ninh Binh is determined to develop spiritual tourism and eco-tourism. Therefore, we are determined to promote awareness and responsibility of people in the heritage area about preserving and maintaining the values ​​of the heritage as well as developing tourism services within the heritage. Trang An employs 1,500 people to provide boat rowing services, each person is a heritage guide and a security and order and environmental officer.”

In the three localities of Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue and Da Nang city, this year will continue to link up to introduce new tourism products with the theme "Destination of island paradise and world heritage", creating opportunities for the tourism industry of the localities to exchange and connect with the tourism community at both ends of the country. Connecting heritage to develop tourism on the basis of selecting the most quintessential and attractive values ​​to introduce to tourists is the chosen method to promote heritage most effectively to domestic and international friends.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism affirmed: “We develop tourism with a focus on quality, efficiency and competitiveness. To turn a cultural resource into a tourism product, a destination, there is still a lot to do. We must choose the most unique and core things to focus on developing tourism. From there, it will create a spread to individual segments, specific locations and addresses.”

By connecting heritage sites, tourists from all over the world will have impressive and interesting experiences. From Thanh Hoa to Ninh Binh, Hanoi, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh, following the spiritual path, visitors will come to the unique values ​​of the thousand-year-old land of Thang Long, the worship of Hung Kings. Not only attracting tourists by the magical beauty of Ha Long Bay, the Northeast region from Hai Duong to Quang Ninh also attracts visitors with a system of relics related to heroes such as Tran Quoc Tuan, Nguyen Trai, Le Thanh Tong... especially the ideological and philosophical values ​​of the Truc Lam Zen sect founded by Buddhist Emperor Tran Nhan Tong.

The road to the top of Dong Pagoda, Yen Tu

A pilgrimage to the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen region, lost in the hundreds of years old pine forest, letting one's soul follow the endless winds through the vast bamboo forest, amidst the misty smoke on the sacred mountain peak, touching the Bronze Pagoda, lighting a stick of incense to pay homage to the Buddha, the King Tran Nhan Tong and the Three Patriarchs of Truc Lam is the dream of many people on their journey to explore the country!

Not only connecting domestic heritages, Vietnam's tourism industry also promotes connections abroad through efforts to participate in the program "3 countries - one destination" including Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia, or "5 countries - one destination" including Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia - Myanmar - Thailand. This is a typical model for connecting cultural heritages to preserve and promote the value of heritages to serve tourism development, gradually enhancing the image of the country and people of Vietnam in the world.

According to Rural Economics