80 years later, heritage is being considered a "gold mine" that needs to be exploited when Vietnam is focusing on developing cultural industries.
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About 10 years ago, a man came to see me with a pair of documents. He introduced himself as Hai - General Director of the Vietnam - Southeast Asia Union of Science, Conservation and Development of Culture. He said: "But you should consider me a son of Hanoi, a lover of Hanoi and Hanoi monuments who only wants to contribute his voice to the heritage of the capital".
Then Mr. Hai enthusiastically told about the Project that he had worked hard to collect and research for decades on the method of "taking advantage of relics to care for relics". He gave an example of Le Mat communal house (Gia Lam, Hanoi). Nearly half a century ago, due to not being aware of the significance of the decree "Conservation of relics throughout Vietnam" as well as not being aware of the State's regulations on conservation, Le Mat communal house and many other relics were turned into warehouses, dried yards, barns, and places for vermicelli production. The ancient architectural works were seriously degraded, the roofs of the communal house collapsed... It was not until the 1970s that the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the leaders of Hanoi took action to restore and preserve the Le Mat village relic.
In 2000, the relic was once again attacked when its meat was chopped off, ancient trees were cut down... causing outrage among the villagers. The people's opposition saved Le Mat communal house and affirmed that it was impossible to cut off the source of life, separate the relic from the village, from the cultural and spiritual life of the people. The results of the application of "taking advantage of relics to care for relics" not only demonstrate heredity and heritage conservation but are also a great lesson for planning.
Hanoi has nearly 6,000 relics, and the Long Bien area alone has nearly 100 relics, but every year, the city budget has to spend a huge amount of money to preserve these relics. The phenomenon of encroachment and destruction of relics still occurs in some places. Since ancient times, relics are a common asset of the community and the community has joined hands to preserve and embellish relics in the direction of "taking advantage of relics to nurture relics", therefore, Hanoi needs to study and promote this approach, contributing to saving the budget and preserving the values of relics. It even brings great economic value" - Mr. Hai said.
Every time they met, Mr. Hai laughed and said: "People often say I am an old man, but it's okay. Every time I see relics and heritages being protected, their value being promoted and bringing economic benefits to my children and grandchildren, I am happy.
In the increasingly strong integration flow, the story of economic development from cultural heritage is no longer a theoretical orientation, but has become an urgent requirement for many localities. If in the past, heritage was mainly viewed from the perspective of pure conservation - that is, " Maintaining the status quo" - then today, the new thinking considers heritage as endogenous resources, a form of "special asset", capable of creating economic value, contributing to green and sustainable growth. Vietnam - a country with more than 40,000 inventoried relics, hundreds of traditional festivals, and 14 heritages honored by UNESCO - is facing a golden opportunity to build a truly heritage economic sector, but it also comes with countless challenges that cannot be underestimated.
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Not many countries have such a high and diverse heritage density as Vietnam. From world heritages such as Ha Long Bay, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Hue Monuments Complex, Hoi An Ancient Town... to intangible heritage treasures such as Hue Royal Music, Quan Ho, Ca Tru, Tinh Thuong Than Mau... all contribute to creating a unique cultural appearance of the country.
However, economic exploitation from heritage is still very modest. In Thanh Hoa, Nha Ho Citadel Heritage collects about 1.2 - 1.5 billion VND in tickets each year, an amount too small compared to the cost of management and investment in restoration. Valuable places such as Lam Kinh or the ancient villages of Dong Son and Truong Le are still struggling in the story of how to "come to the city" and not just a "back to visit" place.
Many heritages have not yet truly "lived". Customers come to visit, take photos, then leave. People around the heritage have not been able to make a living from the heritage. Enterprises are confused by the lack of investment mechanisms. Limited infrastructure, poor ancillary services, and disjointed connectivity between heritage sites have caused this huge resource to not be awakened.
Meanwhile, international practice shows that heritage, if exploited properly, can become a sustainable "gold mine".Louvre Abu Dhabi - where the UAE paid more than 1.3 billion USD to rent the Louvre brand - is a testament to how a cultural institution can become a huge economic driver without harming original heritage.In Japan, every Shinto shrine or ancient town is designed as a link in the tourism service chain that creates value added.In Europe, heritage economic exploitation has been an economic sector worth tens of billions of USD, contributing directly to GDP.
Vietnam can do the same thing - even have an advantage - if they know how to do it.
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In recent years, the viewpoint of developing a heritage economy has clearly appeared in the draft documents of the Party Congress, considering culture - including heritage - as "the spiritual foundation, resources, and driving force for national development", as one of the important pillars of the knowledge economy.
The draft of the 14th National Party Congress Documents sets out the task: "Effectively promote the cultural values and contributions of the Vietnamese people, so that culture truly becomes an endogenous resource, driving force and coordination for national development".
Quang Ninh is a typical example of this new thinking. When the province switched from a "brown economy" to a "green economy", heritage - with the center of Ha Long Bay - became a strategic driving force. Ha Long Bay currently ranks second in terms of visitors among UNESCO heritages in Vietnam, but is absolutely at the top in terms of revenue. The mechanism of limiting the number of visitors to sensitive caves, tightening environmental management, developing kayak products, visiting fishing villages, sailing festivals... makes Ha Long Bay not only a sightseeing destination, but also a competitive service - experience - cultural ecosystem with global competitiveness.
Hue is also taking a long way, from digitizing 110,000 heritage documents to virtual exhibitions and smart tourism interactive stations. Who could have thought that the royal heritage that was once only displayed in the traditional way could now be "told" by a multimedia experience, bringing ancient values closer to the younger generation?
Vietnam's opportunities are clear: Whoever holds the heritage will have a competitive advantage in the cultural tourism industry - an industry that is forecast to account for more than 40% of total global tourism spending by 2030.
However, the path to developing a heritage economy is not without challenges.
Many localities, faced with growth pressure, have hastily commercialized their heritage in a short-term way. Some relics have been "re- beautified" with strange materials, damaging their original value. Some heritages are "sold cheaply" through uncontrolled tourism activities, causing environmental pollution or deforming cultural spaces. Those are "headaches" that belong to no one.
The conflict between conservation and development is always the biggest challenge. Conservation requires stability, stability, and maintenance; while development requires dynamism, expansion, and change. Without a strategy, both of them will eliminate each other.
Another challenge is the story of resources. Vietnam is lacking high-quality conservation experts, lacking mechanisms to attract long-term investment businesses, lacking strong conservation funds, while thousands of relics are deteriorating every day. There are communal houses and pagodas in rural areas that are degraded to the point of "broken", but the commune does not have a budget, resources, the province does not have enough capital, and businesses do not find economic motivation to participate.
Not to mention, many indigenous communities - the subject of heritage - are still on the sidelines, even becoming "audiences" right on their land. When people do not have economic benefits from heritage, heritage protection will hardly become a personal motivation.
The heritage economy can only take off when Vietnam takes advantage of the power of digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence - AI. In many countries, AI has changed the way museums operate, the way relics tell stories, and the way visitors interact with history. One model that has proven effective is using AI to recreate the 3D space of relics, attracting even those who cannot come directly.
Digitizing heritage, building an open data bank, creating digital cultural products, virtual exhibitions, virtual tour guides, interactive heritage maps... are the directions being implemented by Hue, Hanoi and Da Nang. Heritage is no longer " lying still" in a glass cabinet but enters modern life, becoming an asset that can be legally, transparently and sustainably traded.
From a market perspective, technology also creates a new form of heritage: Digital heritage. Collections of images, videos, lectures, virtual models... become assets that bring in revenue through copyright, digital services, and multimedia exploitation. The world is entering an era where past data becomes the "gold" of the future, and Vietnam cannot stand outside this race.
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Each heritage can completely be an economic ecosystem.
New research on heritage economy shows that each heritage site needs to be developed into an ecosystem with at least 10 sources of income: sightseeing tickets, museum services, souvenir sales, branding rights, event organization, auxiliary tourism services, scientific research, cultural products, digital products, and especially resources from the community.
Many localities in the world have applied the model of "each heritage has a product - each community has a role". In Kyoto, a pagoda survives thanks to the support of 20-30 surrounding stores; in Seoul, heritage is protected by turning the whole neighborhood into an open exhibition space.
Vietnam can completely go this way: Hoi An ancient town not only has the flow of people, but must become the center of the service - culinary - fashion - art - experience ecosystem; Ho Nha Citadel is not only a stone wall, but must be the center of ancient architectural decoding, a place to tell the story of the Tran - Ho period with technology; The ancient capital of Hue not only opens the gate for visitors but must become a "super open museum" of Southeast Asia.
To develop a heritage economy, Vietnam needs 3 pillars: State creation - accompanying businesses - community as the subject.
The State must shape a clear legal framework, strong decentralization, and empower localities; at the same time, create a mechanism for businesses to be able to invest in heritage without worrying about legal risks. Enterprises must see long-term economic opportunities, not just short-term profits. The community must share benefits - because no one protects heritage better than the people living around heritage.
The heritage economy will not be able to develop if people just stand and watch. But when people can live
from heritage, when each family around the relic has income from tourism services, from cultural products, from performing activities, from community accommodation, then heritage will be protected with both heart and rights.
The heritage economy is one of the inevitable roads for Vietnam in the new development stage. It is not only the economic sector of tourism, not just the story of culture, but the connection of science - technology - education - environment - community. When heritage becomes an asset, when each traditional value is reborn into a product of the modern era, culture is not only a spiritual foundation but truly becomes a driving force for sustainable development of the country.
Vietnam is facing a golden opportunity. If properly grasped, the heritage economy will not only enrich each locality, but also contribute to creating national soft power, bringing Vietnam into global competition with its own identity and cultural depth.
