In order to promote tourist destinations, potential filming locations, attract Hollywood studios - the world's cinema capital - to Vietnam to film highly attractive films, and promote international tourists to Vietnam, from September 21-28, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will organize the Vietnam Tourism - Cinema Promotion Program in the US with the theme "Vietnam - New Destination of World Cinema".
Speaking at the recent seminar “Vietnam – a new destination for world cinema” in Hanoi, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung assessed that Vietnam’s tourism industry has proactively linked cultural sectors, always identifying that tourism products must bear a strong cultural imprint. Among the 12 fields of the cultural industry, cinema and tourism are the two key sectors. The connection between these two sectors will be an important driving force for development.
The leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism affirmed their determination to focus on developing cinema, and that cinema must be linked with tourism. The effectiveness of this link has been proven in practice through events and joint programs through which filmmakers have signed cooperation agreements with the government, contributing to promoting local tourism and attracting visitors.
“When talking about promoting and attracting tourists through the creation of cinematic works, we clearly see that the power of cinema is not only an art form, but also a cultural form. If we know how to combine this power, it will create a very high spread in promoting and introducing tourism,” Minister Nguyen Van Hung emphasized.
Discussing this issue, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh - Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, stated that cinema is a particularly important field in social life. In countries with developed film industries such as the US, China, Japan, India, France, Korea, UK, Italy, etc., cinema works have a great influence on a large audience in the country, region and the world. Hollywood blockbusters have the ability to reach audiences worldwide and have revenue of up to billions of USD.
Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh cited that many countries have become the focus of attracting tourists worldwide thanks to movies. Since 2001, after the release of the “Lord of the Rings” movies, the number of international visitors to New Zealand has increased by 50%.
In the UK, between 2011 and 2014, the Harry Potter series helped increase foreign tourists visiting film sets in the country by 230%. The beautiful locations in Croatia, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, etc. that appeared in the Game of Thrones series also became tourist attractions after the series was released.
Compared to other countries, Vietnam is rich in natural, ecological and cultural resources. According to the World Economic Forum, Vietnam's natural resources are ranked 26th and its cultural resources are ranked 28th in the world. The leader of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration affirmed that the country's resources are very good for developing tourism combined with cinema.
This can be demonstrated through the success of international films shot in Vietnam.
Mr. Bui Van Manh, Director of Ninh Binh Tourism Department, cited the movie Indochina (Indochine, 1992), which had some scenes filmed in Tam Coc - Bich Dong in Ninh Binh.
Previously, there were almost no international tourists. After the film was released, Tam Coc - Bich Dong tourist area (Ninh Binh) became known to many international tourists, especially French tourists.
However, the leaders of Ninh Binh Department of Tourism raised the issue of how to provide maximum support for film crews, and the need to develop a comprehensive strategy, from central to local policy mechanisms.
Meanwhile, President of the Vietnam Cinema Promotion and Development Association Ngo Phuong Lan raised the issue of combining tourism with cinema.
According to her, when making a film, the film crew or the tourism industry should not touristize the work, but should find every way to incorporate tourism messages into the work.
“Because a film must first have value in order to have the power to spread and from there promote the locality and destination. If we touristize the film, both sides will not be effective, the film will not be successful and will not promote tourism,” Ms. Ngo Phuong Lan analyzed.
Mr. Nguyen Chau A, CEO of Oxalis Adventure, representing a unit with experience in hosting Hollywood film crews such as: Peter Pan, Kong: Skull Islands; TV shows such as: Good Morning America, or BBC documentary Planet Earth III, said that foreign filmmakers really like the landscape and setting of Vietnam because of its diversity, uniqueness and novelty. Vietnam can become a newer destination compared to countries such as Thailand, the Philippines - places with settings that are too familiar for film studios.
He shared that foreign filmmakers want Vietnam to create more favorable conditions for licensing film projects, to be supported in terms of security and order during filming, to maintain confidentiality during filming, to have security issues during filming, and to have preferential tax policies (VAT, PIT). In addition, they want Vietnam to have more professional and transparent production and logistics companies to serve international film crews to ensure international requirements.
