Experts at a workshop discussed the current state of HCM City’s cultural tourism and measures to improve this field until 2030.

Nguyễn Văn Trình, deputy head of the city's Institute for Development Studies, and Võ Trọng Nam, deputy director of the city Department of Culture and Sports, discussed how the city can improve such activities until 2030. 

Cultural tourism, which includes visits to learn about the life of ethnic communities, can provide both economic and intangible values to the localities hosting the activities, Trình said.

As of 2019, HCM City had over 385 tourism products, and nearly all of them are categorised under "cultural tourism".

Experts agreed that it was important to carry out more collaborative measures to improve the field in the time to come.

Huỳnh Ngọc Vân, former director of the War Remnants Museum and consultant for the Áo dài Museum, said that the public policies of each museum should be improved. 

“If we divide our audience into smaller demographics, we can come up with more meaningful tourism products.”

“Authorities need to take into consideration that each type of audience has different demands and each tourist has different intentions, which could include cultural tourism,” she said.

Citing her experience with the War Remnants Museum and Áo Dài Museum, she said that she was confident that thoughtful public policies were the key to successful cultural tourism products.

“The Áo Dài Museum saw an increase of 200 per cent of visitors in 2019,” Vân said.

Following its sustainable tourism plan, HCM City will focus on cultural tourism, will support ethnic communities in tourism management, and minimise the effect of tourism on the environment and the living conditions of local residents.

Experts added that authorities should draft detailed plans on how to effectively preserve historic sites, create meaningful and distinguished culture tourism products, and train high-quality human resources, among other crucial tasks. — VNS