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| Hue Museum of Royal Antiquities - one of the destinations chosen by culture lovers |
Close connection between tourism and culture
Exploiting and promoting the value of Hue cultural heritage creates advantages for economic development, especially tourist economy; conversely, it’s the development of tourist economy that fosters better conditions for the promotion and conservation of Hue cultural heritage. It’s essential to make heritage blend into the contemporary life, which contributes to educating people and improving their cultural life.
According to Dr. Phan Tien Dung _ Chairman of Hue City Historical Science Association, Hue cultural heritage has been widely promoted, creating a great attraction of Hue to visitors from all over the world. This contributes to developing Hue tourism and its service industry, which is an essential economic sector now.
With the advantage of being a place which possesses many tangible and intangible values and exceptional resources in culture, history, ecology, landscape, etc., Hue has become a venue for people across the globe. Possessing the valuable heritage recognized by UNESCO, Hue culture has become an important factor in the development strategy of the Central, contributing to the international foreign exchange of Vietnam. Regarding location in relationship with other localities, Hue lies on the East-West Economic Corridor and in the middle of the Central Vietnam Heritage Route.
With tourist potential and strategies the city has made a close connection between cultural development and tourist development with culture as the foundation for sustainable development. At the same time, tourist development aims to create resources and favorable conditions for the conservation and promotion of cultural values.
According Huynh Thi Anh Van, former Director of Hue Museum of Royal Antiquities, besides its historical significance, Hue Citadel with its exceptional advantages also plays an important role in economy and tourism. Besides, this is also the area where many local people reside and practice their traditional crafts, which creates identity in cuisine, dressing and lifestyle.
Promoting potentials and advantages
According to Van, in addition to the Imperial City, the Purple Forbidden City, and the Hue Museum of Royal Antiquities, which have been well preserved for the purpose of tourism, the rest in the Citadel hasn’t yet become destinations exciting enough to attract tourists.
Present tours are mainly limited to the Imperial City. Most visitors to Hue or websites about Hue focus only on familiar attractions such as Flag Tower, Noon Gate, and the Imperial City.
It is thus necessary to build a multilingual online travel map of the Citadel, briefly introducing the history, locating check-in points, and showing ways to hotels, stores, restaurants, etc. The map should also connect with travel agencies and businesses in and out of the country. Besides, based on destinations and historical stories, virtual sightseeing routes plus real experiences should be designed too.
“With available potential and advantages Hue will continue to affirm its position and develop on the basis of promoting its own values. The typical values will not only be preserved in a stable and sustainable way but also be an impetus for the development of economy and society,” said Van.
Meanwhile, according to Dinh Manh Thang – vice President of Vietnam Tourism Association and Chairman of Hue City Tourism Association, in the development mainstream of tourism in Vietnam, Hue stands out as a “cultural highlight” with heritage and a delicate beauty which few places possess. Being a city of heritage, culture, ecology, landscape, intelligence, and environmental friendliness Hue is taking steps to materialize the target of making tourism one of the key economic sectors.
In the context of globalization, the tourism sector plays an increasingly vital role in the socio-economic structure, especially in cities with grand potential like Hue. “To optimize the existing advantages, promoting and finding markets has become a key factor in introducing Hue as a destination and making the tourism industry of the city professional and sustainable,” said Thang.