VietNamNet held a roundtable talk with Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of the Vietnam National Authority of Vietnam, Dang Bao Hieu, chair of Ana Marina Nha Trang Resort, and Tran Viet Anh, president of Binh Dinh F1 to discuss how to position Vietnam as a wonderful destination for beach tourism.

Question: The government in 2020 approved the strategy on Vietnam’s sea tourism by 2030 which said the priority will be given to developing island resort tourism products, sports tourism, and marine entertainment in accordance with the strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam's sea-borne economy.

What achievements has Vietnam’s tourism gained in developing sea and island tourism, sports tourism and marine entertainment?

Ha Van Sieu: Figures show that we have well exploited the potential to develop sea tourism. Sea tourism accounts for 60-70 percent of tourism activities in Vietnam.

However, we have to acknowledge that Vietnam’s sea tourism activities are still simple and only a part of potential has been exploited, such as beach resort and onshore activities. Meanwhile, sports tourism, remains nearly unexploited. And this must be an issue Vietnam’s tourism needs to focus on in the time to come.

Question: According to experts, a country can be positioned as ‘the country of sea tourism’ if it has three major foundations, including natural conditions, sea tourism infrastructure and high-quality sports and beach resort products. Which foundations do you think Vietnam has?

Ha Van Sieu: We can say for sure that Vietnam has great potential and advantages in natural conditions, from beach positions, coastline beauty, sea climate, to people’s hospitality, creativeness and aspirations.

However, we are still lacking good infrastructure items and high-quality entertainment and sports products. I think that the problem lies in the lack of connectivity between investors, local authorities and related parties.

Dang Bao Hieu: The infrastructure for that development remains very poor and sea tourism products are limited because of many reasons.

The first reason is in the way of thinking. For a long time, when mentioning the concept ‘country of sea tourism’, we only think about ‘3S’ – sea, sun, sand. However, these are just the natural conditions. What we also need to develop sea tourism is the changes in our approach to marine tourism. And when we talk about sea sports, the concept not only means ‘swimming’, but also means different sports products, such as windsurfing, paddle boarding, motorboat and sailboat.

If we put ‘sea’ at the center, we will also other ‘s’, such as ‘skills’, ‘spirit’ and ‘smart’. When organizing underwater sports, travel firms should not only think of buying modern equipment, but also of developing an infrastructure system to control risks and providing healthcare and rescue services.

Tran Viet Anh: It is true that Vietnam just approaches the ‘water edge’, while the activities on water surface are rare and poor.

Let’s talk about sports. A report shows that Vietnam organizes 40,000 sport tournaments a year. Movement sports tournaments can attract tens of thousands of participants and bring high economic value, promote tourism and consumption.

The sports market is estimated to have the value of $300 million.

That is one of the reasons for us to organize F1 powerboat in Binh Dinh. We will not just simply organize a race, but also organize a series of events, from food festival, fashion performance to investment promotion.

We believe that having beautiful sea is not enough to develop sea tourism and organize the big tournament. This is a tournament held around the world, therefore, if we cannot create highlights and differences with our local characteristics, they won’t return to Vietnam the next time. 

Modern tourists come to a destination not only because they are attracted by the beauty there, but also by the activities bearing native culture characteristics.

Instead of showing the name of sponsors to advertise enterprises on ad banners, we attach the destination name. This aims to introduce Binh Dinh to international travelers. 

Question: Hoi An’s former Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Su once admitted that travelers Hoi An still cannot have diverse sea tourism experience. What do you think about that?

Tran Viet Anh: This is the common problem of the localities with sea in Vietnam. Travelers come there just to eat, sleep and have sea bathing. Investors pour money on coastal hotels and resorts, but don’t think of diversifying tourists’ experiences.

To be continued...

VietNamNet