Special resources for tourism development
In many countries, rivers are always the center of experiences and symbols of the city, such as the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, the Seine River in Paris or the yacht routes on the Yangtze River and Yangtze River in China.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Hoang Phuong - Director of the Institute for Social Tourism Research, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Golden Smile Development Joint Stock Company - said that for many years, Hanoi has not properly exploited the value of the Red River as an "axis of experience", thereby missing many advantages from the river. To make the Red River a new destination for Hanoi, the city needs to prioritize three factors: Planning and investment mechanism; infrastructure - landscape; system of typical products and services.
Mr. Phuong also noted that the development of Red River tourism must pay special attention to safety due to the characteristic of stronger flow than many other tourist river routes.
To make the Red River a "new destination
Mr. Pham Hai Quynh - Director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute - said that the Red River is a natural link between craft villages, relics on both banks and suburban heritage areas. However, due to the lack of synchronous wharf infrastructure, the river has not become a smooth tourist traffic route.
Currently, tourists coming to Hanoi mainly experience the streets from within, there are not many opportunities to see the city from the river - where the beauty of historical bridges and the intersection between ancient and modern cities can be seen.
The Director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute said that Ho Chi Minh City has taken a step ahead in socializing waterway tourism investment. The biggest lesson is open thinking for businesses.
According to Mr. Hai Quynh, Hanoi needs to turn wharves into creative cultural spaces, and at the same time build tourist tours connecting public transport and rivers.
However, the Red River has a large water level difference between the flood season and the dry season. If there is no technical solution for the foundation level of wharves and adapted boats, infrastructure investment will be potentially risky.
Riverside planning must ensure livelihoods for existing local people.If they become part of the community tourism ecosystem, the planning will have natural vitality instead of just service concrete blocks.
"As soon as the riverside face becomes clean, beautiful and culturally rich, businesses will automatically come to invest" - Mr. Hai Quynh assessed.
The master plan of Hanoi Capital with a 100-year vision orients the transformation of cargo ports and general ports in the center into ports and tourist boat wharves, in order to effectively exploit riverside land funds and develop ecological - cultural - urban service spaces.
According to the Project on developing the night economy for the period 2026-2030, orientation to 2045, Hanoi sets a goal to develop night yacht services on the Red River by 2030, connecting from Long Bien bridge to the middle beach, combining sightseeing, art performances and cuisine on boats.
