On the morning of July 13, the Vietnam Institute of Culture, Arts, Sports and Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) organized the Workshop "Culinary and Tourism Development in Vietnam", gathering managers, experts, businesses and local representatives to discuss the role of cuisine in sustainable tourism development.
Speaking at the conference, MSc. Nguyen Thi Hoa Mai - Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism said that many international studies have affirmed the increasingly important role of cuisine for the tourism industry.
Documents from the International Tourism Association have shown that more than 50% of tourists choose destinations based on the element of culinary experience, and studies also show that 81% of international tourists are excited to experience cuisine right on their first trip. Therefore, from an economic spending perspective, cuisine will promote tourism," Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa Mai emphasized.
According to Ms. Hoa Mai, in the context of tourists increasingly prioritizing local experiences, investing in the development of culinary tourism not only contributes to promoting Vietnamese culture but also increases the length of stay, spending and the ability of tourists to return.
Dr. Hoang Thi Binh - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Culture, Arts, Sports and Tourism emphasized that cuisine is not only a unique cultural value but also an important tourism resource, contributing to improving the competitiveness of Vietnam's destinations.
Next, M.A. Hoang Dao Bao Cam - Head of the Tourism Research Department presented a keynote report, raising many issues about effectively exploiting culinary resources associated with tourism product development and building destination brands.
In the presentation, many experts shared models and practical experiences to effectively exploit culinary values to serve tourism development.
Representatives of Ninh Binh Department of Tourism presented a paper on the potential and current situation of exploiting culinary values in local tourism development. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong - Director of the Vietnam Institute of Culture, Arts, Sports and Tourism analyzed the sustainable tourism development model from the creative ecosystem of Hue cuisine.
In addition, the presentations also focused on many contents such as sustainable culinary tourism development through experience innovation; experience in building a Halal restaurant system to serve Muslim tourists; exploiting local cuisine from the Rose Kitchen and Roastery History Museum models; as well as improving service quality, human resource training and standardizing Vietnamese culinary tourism products.
After the presentation session, delegates exchanged and discussed solutions to promote the value of Vietnamese cuisine, strengthen links between management agencies, localities and businesses, towards building cuisine into a unique tourism product, contributing to improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism in the international market.
