Vietnam's tourism

Overview of Vietnam’s tourism The tourism industry in Vietnam today has become a fast-growing economic sector and occupies an important position in the economic structure of many countries. Vietnam is known for its famous landscapes and is recognized worldwide for its cultural heritages destinations such as Ha Long Bay, Phong Nha, Ke Bang, My Son, Hue, and the ancient town of Hoi An, with their rich and diverse natural settings. Besides those, Vietnam has some ecological systems of mangrove forests that have not been exploited such as Cuc Phuong in Ninh Binh and Pu Mat in Nghe An. Furthermore, Vietnam has many beautiful landscapes such as Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan, Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa, Bai Chay in Ha Long, Vung Tau which are suitable for the development of marine tourism. Therefore, Vietnam is and has been an ideal destination for travellers and international tourists alike. To further develop these scenic attractions, Vietnam should increasingly boost investment and upgrade infrastructure more comprehensively.  One of the most basic measures to attract tourists is to create compelling services to meet the needs and preferences of guests, providing preliminary information for guests about the cultural life of the region that tourists visit. However, if the product is attractive, but the environment for tourists is inadequate, then you cannot create a solid foundation for recreational and tourist activities. Environmental tourism here is understood as tourism in the natural environment as well as cultural tourism. In recent years, the development of tourism in our country has created many business opportunities such as organizations opening the door for tourists to visit, additional investment and materials and the expansion of the road network, Tour price incentives and friendly people. But with the positive side there are many problems such as solving environmental pollution at tourist sites, some beggars stealing and clinging on to buyers. In addition, many business establishments have begun dying and losing business and people in some places are not friendly to tourists, some accommodation for visitors to rest remains to be clean. Importantly, these things have reduced Vietnam's image in the eyes of international tourists. Therefore, in recent years our country has offered solutions to limit the effects on tourism in particular and the environment in general. For example, last October, Ho Chi Minh City issued its 2010 Tourism development plan for Vietnam. Accordingly, in 2010, the city’s tourism industry has striven to fulfil and exceed the basic target. International visitors to the city reached 2.8 million, up 7% over 2009. Domestic tourists increased form 15-20%. Total revenue reached VND 40,000 billion, an increase of 15% over 2009’s revenue. As a result, it reinforces the important role of tourism in Ho Chi Minh City as well as it affirms the development of “the Vietnam’s tourism of the new millennium.” Advantages of tourism development in Vietnam As we know to develop tourism in Vietnam successfully, the most crucial factor is to provide a pristine natural environment because this is the key to ensure lasting impressions and therefore satisfied customers. Also, when talking about the environment, by definition we mean both the natural and material elements, so creating a close inter-connected relationship of these aspects is equally important. As tourism grows, there should be little or no impact on the environment otherwise gradually its natural beauty will be destroyed. Tourism is becoming an increasingly popular sector and it is rapidly developing all over the world, so when people exploit tourist resources, they need to pay particular attention to its environmental impact in the long term. According to Vietnam footprints issued on April 23rd, 2006 (Source: ND) “In the first quarter of 2006, Vietnam has attracted more than one million international tourists, Vietnam is frequently viewed as a friendly and safe destination and ranked as one of the most attractive destinations in the world over the next decade. Vietnamese tourism has gradually affirmed its role as a leading economic power.” accordingly we know that “After the 1997 regional economic crisis, despite being affected by pandemics, natural disasters and conflicts in regions of the world, the Vietnamese tourism industry is entering a strong development period. Over the past 15 years, the number of tourists has increased by 20% each year on average. The number of international tourists to Vietnam has increased 11 fold, from 250,000 in 1990 to 3.4 million in 2005. The tourism industry has earned more than VND 30 billion, exceeding the plan”. Because of these economic and social achievements, this has contributed to the alleviation of poverty, improving living standards and social enrichment therefore the development of tourism has helped change the face of urban and rural areas. The tourism industry has created an ability to consume goods and services higher and as a result it has boosted the development of other industries such as the restoration of many traditional festivals and craft villages, facilitated the economic restructuring of the whole country and each locality, expanded exchanges among regions and with foreign countries, and ensured the security, national defence and social order of the country. Through tourism, there are many historical and cultural places have been preserved. According to the Vietnam footprints has also said that “Directed by the government, the tourism industry has co-ordinated with relevant ministries and bodies and localities to build and complete major mechanisms and policies on tourism such as the Tourism Ordinance, Tourism Law and National Action Plan on tourism. This law took effect in January 2006 and is the most important legal document that sets outs a framework for tourist activities. So far, there have been more than 6,000 institutions that operate in the accommodation business nationwide with more than 130,000 rooms, including 18 five-star hotels, 48 four-star hotels and 300 international tourist companies. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh, Da Nang and Hai phong have the most international tourist companies. Re-organisation and renovation of state-owned travel businesses have been improved and the government has funded VND 2,146 billion to help improve tourism infrastructure in key tourism centres with 358 projects in 58 provinces and centrally-run cities. The tourism industry has also attracted 190 direct foreign investment projects with a total registered capital of US $4.64 billion in 29 provinces and cities. Vietnam has exempted visas for citizens from Japan, the Republic of Korea and some Nordic countries. Visas granting has been diversified, for example, visas are granted to tourists at Vietnamese embassies abroad, and at international border gates for those who stay in Vietnam up to a maximum of 15 days.” Infrastructure is one of the most important factors in the growth of the tourism industry in the recent period, the tourism industry has focused more organized tourist destination, the resorts, the trip by sea, river, besides, also organized many tours such as hiking, diving, cave tour and travel across Vietnam by motorcycle, car and bicycle. In recent years, Vietnam has attracted thousands of international tourists travelling by sea. With the right promotion and problem solving strategies, the tourism sector and localities have organised many travel events successfully in Ha Long, Nghe An and Quang Nam, along with festivals throughout the country. These programmes have made a great contribution to promoting the image of Vietnam tourism to the world. In addition, the social republic of Vietnam has significant potential for tourism development and it is rich in natural and cultural tourism resources. A master plan for the development of tourism for Vietnam was published by the world tourism organisation in collaboration with a United Nations Development plan. The government has recognized the importance of the development of tourism by marking it a priority industry for national development. This has involved preparing a new master plan focusing on infrastructure requirements, education, and the marketing of tourism. Vietnam has certain advantages as an international tourism destination through its central geographical location in Southeast Asia and its ability to cater to tourists all year round. One of the new tourism concepts proposed is “Vietnam by train”. This will disperse tourism over many regions of the country with minimal environmental impact and low infrastructure costs. A future proposal is to build rail links with China and Cambodia. Tourism development is being concentrated in and around four main economic zones. Northern Vietnam is to be developed as the staging area for excursion to Ha Long Bay, with its famous scenery, beaches, and ocean for cruising. The southern part of the central zone has greater potential for ecotourism. There is an abundance of natural resources favouring coastal resort developments and consequent nature-based activities in the terrestrial and marine environments. The preservation of the environment is identified as a key issue for this area. For example, there is a need to prevent forest destruction, the population of the Perfume River (which flows through Hue) and the Han River (which flows through Da nang), and in general the population of water, air, and the coastline. Southern Vietnam will particularly foster ecotourism based on the central node the Ho Chi Minh City. It appears that the Vietnamese government is committed to developing tourism along sustainable guidelines. However, the achievement of this development will be difficult in light of the urgent need for Vietnam to earn foreign exchange and because of its limited resources and knowledge. The issues of sustainability therefore hinges on the political will of the government and the ability of the tourism sector to learn from other countries in the region, which have developed sustainable types of tourism. Disadvantages of tourism development in Vietnam Because of the growing science, the introduction of machinery has caused environmental pollution and degradation to the ecosystem as well as raising atmospheric temperatures. Because of this, traveling has become increasingly difficult and has lost its beauty. Vietnam faces a number of challengers as a popular tourist destination. Some of these difficulties include a number of constraints hindering Vietnam’s tourism development such as poor infrastructure, graft, the lack of appropriate accommodation facilities of international standards, and inadequate skilled workers and qualified management people. The first is the lack of infrastructure. In a sense, for mainstream tourism to flourish in a country, the means to develop tourism must first be in place at the same time. This means a country must have good roads, a well-develop transportation system, well- staffed tourism companies, and quality hotels. Vietnam’s railroad system is very primitive and many trains are not able travel at more than twenty or thirty miles per hour. The roads in some places are in very poor condition. However, government officials in Vietnam are aware of the importance of tourism and now are making rapid progress in developing its infrastructure and they are also training people to work in the tourism industry. Vietnam is generally seen as a very poor country and many tourists are afraid that underdeveloped countries such as Vietnam may restrict tourists finding suitable hotels and that there are not adequate medical facilities. Moreover, the problem is that the products they are selling are often very poor quality copies of recognized brands but the selling price is not cheap. Also there is a chance they will be besieged by beggars or they might face personal risk of robbery. If this happens, they will not be able to buy things they need and they will encounter numerous other difficulties, such as flooding after rainstorms. Disadvantages of tourism in Vietnam Although achieving the development, there are still difficulties, limited both subjective and objective. Therefore, they have not led to the development of stable, effective not commensurate with the tourism potential of the country. a / Facilities are not synchronized and the low quality of products Until now, we have no recreational facilities in association with the landscapes attractions like the world in many countries and regions, the number of capital to be mobilized is very large in this area while the capacity to mobilize capital limited. Besides, funds are also being limited; the investments are not focus on key. Infrastructure and transport are also poorly, so the transportation of passengers it also takes a lot of time, influence time to relax, visit ... do not fit your needs psychological Vietnam's tourism products is not diversified, the quality of products is not satisfy the requirements of visitors. Landscapes, environments and value the unique ethnic culture are not untapped; many opportunities are missed from foreigner. b/ The International cooperation and promoting marketing are also revealed many shortcomings The Vietnam’s tourism hasn't initiative in international cooperation; participation in the market are also spontaneous, do not capture the trend of movement of each type of market. Promotion of the tourism market has not been interested in the management and inadequate market, some mechanism, such as equalization policy, management was slow when interdisciplinary research issue. Having a polities are slowly implemented such as the procedures to transfer the passengers, from motels to the business, the management regulations karaoke, dance halls, massage, sauna, evils begging, stealing, street vendors in tourist places, many phenomena do not comply with the requirements of civilization still exists. It is a consequence of the lack of uniformity in the coordination of actions between tourism and industry affairs, culture, information and government at all levels, mayhem in the management of tourism and business travel, the hotel has not been terminated. For travel planning and more specific in some localities because of the many that the number of a staff shortage and weak, little funding, re-folding time, so the slow implementation, right to the land fund to make planning travel in some localities are difficult, the coordination between sectors related to tourism development between the sectors with the territory do not regularly, lack of uniformity. Therefore, more resources may be gathered together toward a goal of tourism development in both quantity and quality. c / There are many problems with labour quality in the tourism Staff have grown in number, but the management structure is not reasonable and the quality did not meet the task requirements, staff the management of travel agencies, hotels, reception and weak ... just missing again number of employees with professional qualifications, foreign languages, primarily large proportion, the understanding of law, lack of knowledge others have limited communication and quality service, this will interfere or communicating with clients training needs so great and urgent. Scientific research, policy development mechanisms, application deployment urgent needs, inadequate scientific and technical forces are weak, service facilities are limited, can not meet development needs The renovation of the training of tourism personnel according to international standards is a necessary but love the program content and physical conditions are not met; therefore, a time to address both quantity and quality of staff, combined with the continued management apparatus arranged vacation truly scientific. That was one of the most effective measures to accelerate the development of tourism in our country Measures to develop Vietnam's tourism sector in the new millennium To develop Vietnam tourism sector should have the following strategy; Oriented, market expansion and tourism development, enhancing promotion, propaganda promoting tourism, boosting investment in human resources development and scientific research and application technologies, integration, international cooperation Promulgate policies on investment, strengthen and expand international cooperation and gradually perfect the system of law on tourism, considering the priority projects to build recreational areas in the tourist centre to increase the attractiveness of tourist activities, upgrading and embellishment of the city, the urban areas, and the international border by road, sea and so on. Implementing steps to restore the construction project village development and other provisions relating to sale of handicraft products, garments, footwear; this is an important issue because it is creating more tourist attractions, contributing to job creation, export the campaign in place and poverty reduction Priority investment in building transport infrastructure, paying special attention to the capacity of air transportation of passengers when the country became the preferred destination for international visitors, to promote the progress of upgrading and expand the international airport, increasing the aircraft, opening new routes to major cities in the world, reduced airline tickets to fit in with international fare and regional attention and build new and upgrade domestic airport system, increase output and quality level of the flight in order to meet the needs of Vietnam travel south and visit tourist areas in the country. Increased use of modern information technology, internet effectively exploits it for propaganda to promote and encourage e-commerce applications in the sector to promote tourism. Protection of tourism resources and natural environment, enhance environmental management in key tourist and prevention of social evils from entering tourist activities, paying attention to waste water treatment, waste hotels, tourist spots, resorts, tourist attractions, particularly public toilets Build a unique tourism products of particular colouring of Vietnam, to diversify and improve Vietnam tourism products to suit the characteristics and needs of international markets and domestic customers, every step Others products of Vietnam tourism to the ground level of the tourism product of the region and the world Consolations Today tourism has become a popular demand of all citizens in countries with economic development, tourism has become a key economic sector in many countries, Vietnam is a country rich in potential tourism, not only natural resources but also in culture, along with the development trend of the world as well as in terms of innovation in the country, Vietnam's tourism is increasingly important position in the background national economy. Through tourism activities, tourism potential of growing into tourism product diversity towards bold originality of Vietnam tourism, Vietnam's tourism to become a spearhead economic contribution to actively to achieve economic and social development of the country However, to promote the tourism potential of the country, they must know to take advantage of development opportunities and overcome challenges that in the coming years, most notably committed to the goals set, a uniform and consistent among agencies and managed business travel, between the state and people.