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| Cyclos took visitors to local eateries and pedestrian streets to enjoy local specialties. Photo: NQ |
Visiting Hue on a summer day in June, Mr. Truong Cong Hai and a friend chose to explore Hue by cyclo. The two visitors from Ho Chi Minh City were in no rush. They wanted to spend time passing through different streets and landmarks, taking in the scenery while chatting with their cyclo drivers and ‘picking up local insights’ from them. However, their expectations were only partly fulfilled, as the cyclo drivers focused solely on transporting passengers.
Many visitors to Hue make a point of taking a cyclo ride, hoping to capture a piece of the city’s slow and peaceful rhythm. Unfortunately, Hue’s cyclo services are still largely limited to passive sightseeing, which can easily become repetitive. The main reason is a shortage of specialized routes, and a lack of integration with other service sectors.
Mr. Nguyen Tan Xuyen, Chairman of Hue Tourism Cyclo Union, said cyclos have yet to move beyond their role as a means of transportation. Cyclo drivers may try to become ‘local guides’, but limited skills and tourism knowledge remain a major obstacle.
Meanwhile, Ms. Duong Thi Cong Ly, Vice Chairwoman and Head of the Product Committee of the City Travel Association, said developing cyclo-based experiences could give Hue’s tourism a distinctive competitive advantage. But to get there, cyclo need to become a ‘living heritage’ within the tourism sector.
Drawing on practical experience in developing tourism products and studying visitor demand, Ms. Ly said that amid the frantic pace of modern life, visitors increasingly seek to ‘travel slowly, and feel deeply’, and to listen to the ‘breath’ and rhythm of each destination. With the right research and investment, the cyclo could become not only a means of transportation, but also a journey of emotion and stories carried along the way, taking visitors back through memory to images imprinted on every corner and every street of the Ancient Capital.
It is no coincidence that many visitors, especially foreign visitors, see the cyclo as a compelling experience. Where large tour buses cannot reach the city’s narrow lanes and alleys, the cyclo has the advantage. Unhurried and easygoing, that leisurely pace is the soul of the cyclo, something that no other means of transport can replace.
“When the cyclo is recognized as a cultural element, preserving and developing that value in a culturally grounded way, tied to tourism development, becomes essential. Done well, it can also generate real economic value and livelihoods for the cyclo drivers,” said Ms. Ly.
There are many ideas for elevating the cyclo from the ordinary means of transport into a signature tourism product.
Hue could develop cyclo-based tourism models such as food tours combining sightseeing with culinary exploration, with the cyclos carrying visitors to dining spots and pedestrian streets to enjoy local specialties; or heritage-photography tours, in which the cyclo serves as a slow-moving vehicle paired with photographers, letting visitors pose for a checking-in photo at historic sites and take home distinctive photographs.
The tourism sector and local businesses also need to invest in training cyclo drivers in communication skills and local guiding skills so that they can serve as storytellers of culture, history, and the people as they travel through every street.
As Mr. Hai, a visitor from Ho Chi Minh City, shared in his trip to Hue: “In the whirlwind of modern life and the rapid transformation of every city, sometimes all it takes is a vehicle that carries memory, a gentle driver, and a slow ride to realize: this is a place that brings peace and happiness. In the experience of travelling by cyclo, there is something truly beautiful in slowing down, old-fashioned in style, yet never out of date.”