Vietnamese Tourism - Something for Everyone

Vietnam has a large number of beautiful beaches up and down its long coastline In the past several years a large number of modern hotels and resorts have been built in Vietnam. At this time in Vietnam there are 8,600 hotels with more than 170,000 rooms. Of those, 1,500 hotels are 1-5-star standard. With these facilities, good accommodations have been provided to the heads of state of many countries during their stay in Vietnam and to thousands of foreign athletes that have come to Vietnam to take part in sporting events. The Hoan My Tourist Company sells package tours to the USA. Vietravel offers low-cost package tours to Thailand. Saigontourist offers package tours to China, providing Chinese tour guides who are fluent in Vietnamese. Thua Thien Hue province has signed a memorandum of understanding regarding tourism with Mucdahan (Thailand), Savanakhet (Laos), Yunnan and Beihai (China). The Hoa Binh Tourist Company has a representative in Cambodia that works with the Morodok Banteaysrey Tourism Company (Cambodia). Quang Ninh province has attractive tourist sites in Uong Bi, Bai Chay, Van Don and Mong Cai. Foreign tourists sometimes come to Vietnam to see festivals in Da Lat, Sapa, Nha Trang, Cua Lo, Viet Bac, Quang Nam and Hue. Also of interest to foreign tourists are craft villages such as the Doc Tin silk village, the Van Phuc silk village, the Chuyen My lacquer village and the Quat Dong embroidery village. Within the Phu Mong-Kim Long garden in Hue is the palace of a mandarin of the Hue Royal Court. This palace was built in 1894 (under the dynasty of the sixth Thanh Thai King). In Tay Bac, Viet Bac, the midland areas in north, the central region and in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands), there are imposing mountains and surprisingly beautiful caves in addition to waterfalls, hot springs, picturesque terraced fields, houses on stilts and ancient villages. Through the southwestern region flow two rivers, the Tien and the Hau. Well known tourist sites in this region include the ancient Vinh Trang pagoda, Thoi Son island, the Dong Tam snake farm (in Tien Giang province), the Phung Islet in Ben Tre, the Cai Rang Market and the Bang Lang stork garden in Can Tho, the So Mo Cave in Kien Giang, the Doi and Dat Set pagodas in Soc Trang and the U Minh salt-marsh in Ca Mau. Although it has great potential, Vietnam's tourism is growing spontaneously without central planning. Infrastructure, facilities and services are poor. Tourism companies sometimes increase prices at will, and their methods are oftentimes unethical. Many localities are doing nothing to conserve the nation's treasures - cultural and historical sites. Ecotourism, which occurs in rural areas, is not controlled and therefore is not providing a good source of income for rural residents. Vietnam has numerous beaches up and down its long coastline but lacks ports facilities to attract tourists from other countries. Presently, only a couple of seaports in Vietnam can receive big cruise ships. In 2006, six percent of all foreign tourists to Vietnam arrived by ship and they stayed for just a very short time. One estimate is that only about 40 percent of all Vietnamese tourism employees have had any training related to tourism. Half of all the people working in tourism can speak no English. Each year hundreds of thousands of Korean tourists come to Vietnam; there are about 50 Vietnamese tourist guides that can speak Korean. Similarly, a large number of Japanese tourists come to Vietnam each year but only eight percent of Vietnamese tourist guides are able to speak Japanese. Elephant racing - A unique and impressive activity in Vietnam People that live near cultural and historical sites have felt free to open a restaurant or some sort of entertainment facility to serve foreign tourists, and this has adversely affected the cultural and historical sites. As a World Trade Organization (WTO) member, Vietnam faces growing competition from other countries. To be able to compete, these problems need to be resolved as soon as possible. The following are measures that are to be taken to resolve the problems. A Tourism Law exists and is to be implemented. This is to become possible when sub-law documents (soon be promulgated) appear. When all the guidance documents are brought fourth, it is then to become possible to implement the law and to create an appropriate legal framework under which the tourism sector can develop. Each province/city is to make a tourism plan of its own, but the plan must be in accordance with the national tourism development plan. Tourism infrastructure must be built for foreign tourists that come to international political/economic events that take place in Vietnam. Tourism promotion must go hand-in-hand with trade and investment promotion. Creating a positive image of Vietnamese tourism is crucial. Restaurants, hotels, vehicle maintenance stations, filling stations, and rescue centers must be well equipped. In addition, seaports must be upgraded to be able to receive cruise ships. The various localities within Vietnam need to be linked and Vietnamese tourism companies need to make ties with foreign tourism companies, especially to develop major tourism sites in places like Con Dao and Phu Quoc. All tourism employees - staff, managers and tourist guides - must improve their skills. They need to have a solid background in Vietnamese history and culture and have foreign language skills. Vietnamese history and culture could also be taught to foreigners who are living in Vietnam and they could be licensed to work as tourist guides. The procedures that must be negotiated in order to obtain a tourist guide work permit must be simplified. All procedures related to visas and immigration matters need to become transparent and legal. In addition, protection of the environment must become a practice and the preservation of the remaining natural areas must become a serious consideration.

By Nguyen Duy Nghia