On the evening of August 22, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa province held a Consultation Forum on completing Thanh Hoa tourism products with the theme "Fragrance of the Four seasons". The event was attended by more than 60 delegates representing travel agencies and services nationwide who participated in the Thanh Tourism Survey (August 21 - 22.
Ms. Vuong Thi Hai Yen, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa Labor Federation, said that Thanh Hoa is still facing two major bottlenecks that need to be overcome: the seasonality in tourism activities and the low rate of international visitors.
In Thanh Hoa today, about 70% of tourists come to relax and the number of international visitors currently accounts for only 5% of the total number of visitors.
Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, Mr. Vu The Binh affirmed that Thanh Hoa is a locality that is attracting a large number of domestic visitors. Towards sustainable tourism development and attracting more international visitors, Thanh Hoa tourism industry needs to change to adapt to the new situation.
Many businesses and tourism experts have contributed opinions focusing on innovating promotional methods, perfecting products, ensuring attractiveness and reaching a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.
Ms. Dang Thi Tho, representative of Phoenix Voyages, with more than 30 years of experience welcoming international visitors, Thanh Hoa needs to have its own advertising channel, not using advertisements for Vietnamese visitors applied to international visitors.
Foreign visitors love nature, adventure tourism, community tourism. For example, Pu Luong is a new destination suitable for welcoming international visitors, but how to develop and innovate, different from other localities such as Mai Chau, Sa Pa...
In addition, Thanh Hoa tourism needs safety training for tourism services, and at the same time, there should be a clear price listing policy.
Ms. Ta Thi Tu Uyen, Director of Products and Services, Vietravel Company, said: Vietravel is the unit that brings the most MICE groups to Thanh Hoa today but still faces some difficulties. Especially with restaurant and hotel establishments in Thanh Hoa that have not met the standards for serving large groups of guests.
According to Ms. Tu Uyen, Thanh Hoa has a lot of potential but has not yet selected destinations, created regional linkages, created products to increase experiences, green tourism to attract more tourists. For example, Lam Kinh historical relic site lacks experience for visitors, in order to keep visitors longer.
"Thanh Hoa tourism to welcome visitors all year round needs to have an open mindset, not only with new accommodation, travel, and tours, but also considering each image of the people as a tourism product," Ms. Uyen suggested.
At the seminar, the issue of synchronous and transparent tourism service prices at Thanh Hoa's destinations was also emphasized by many businesses and experts.
Mr. Phung Quang Thang, Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association, Head of the Thanh Hoa survey delegation (21 - 22.8) proposed that Thanh Hoa should establish a unit to promote tourism routes, establish a "Green tourism route" connecting heritages. Lam Kinh historical relic site needs to apply technology (AI, virtual reality) to help visitors visualize history, have a center that provides professional and accurate information to travel agencies and tourists.
Trekking products in Pu Luong need to have detailed instructions and calculate the safety of the destination. To welcome international visitors, all products must be on a green tourism platform, must have many trash bins, waste classification...
At the end of the discussion, the representative of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa Labor Federation affirmed that the development orientation of "Thanh Hoa Tourism - Four seasons of Fragrance" not only contributes to diversifying products, prolonging the length of stay of tourists but is also an important solution to enhance the competitiveness of Thanh Hoa tourism in the region and the whole country.
The Department will receive and proactively coordinate with departments, branches and localities to continue perfecting the product, and at the same time coordinate with businesses and media units to promote "Fragrance of Four seasons" as an attractive brand in the coming time.
