Tourists to Phuoc Tich finding out the information
The brand shaped
Phuoc Tich Ancient Village in Phong Hoa Commune, Phong Dien District was ranked as a national artistic architecture monument by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2009. With a complex of architectural monuments of the ancient ruong houses (small traditional houses without main pillars), Cham Pa cultural relics, ancient Vietnamese culture, traditional pottery over 500 years..., Phuoc Tich is known as the heritage village of Central Vietnam.
Currently, Phuoc Tich has 38 ancient ruong houses that remain quite intact, include 12 ancestral temples and 26 residential houses. All these ruong houses are over 100 years old, and the structures are carved with supremely sophisticated patterns.
Also, there is a system of belief and religious monuments such as communal houses, pagodas and shrines alongside the centuries-old ancient trees, river wharfs, communal house yards... All of these create the landscape typical of an ancient Vietnamese village.
Community-based tourism has been in great demand and becomes a trend. Especially in recent years, returning to the countryside to learn about ancient historical sites in combination with experiencing the production activities and products of traditional craft villages associated with rural cultural values has tended upwards. In that trend, with its advantages, Phuoc Tich ancient village has many openings for development.
However, according to Ms. Ho Thi Suong Lan, Director of Phong Lan Viet (Vietnamese Orchid) Tourism Company, Phuoc Tich is a beautiful and ancient village, but in terms of popularity, it is only confined to the province and little known of by domestic and international tourists. This is partly proven upon tour sale; businesses suggest Phuoc Tich for tourists more often than tourists proactively propose it. Phuoc Tich's own brand is very little known to tourists.
Leader of Phong Dien District also said frankly that at present, the community-based tourism in Phuoc Tich takes shape, but the monotonous and unprofessional services have yet to meet the needs of tourists. The brand and "personality" of the typical ancient village have not yet been expressed through tourism services; the capability of promoting the destination left a lot to be desired.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Bach, Chairman of Phong Dien District People's Committee, said that in order to bring into full play the strengths of the tourist destination, there is a great need to build a tourism brand image in a professional, methodical and synchronous way for drawing more and more tourists.
"The People's Committee of Phong Dien District is building and developing the brand name "Old Scent of the Ancient Village" for Phuoc Tich ancient village. This is an opportunity to build a private brand for Phuoc Tich towards the impact on tourists’ awareness of a new tourism brand in association with supplementary products and services and in close relation to Phuoc Tich ancient village: an model of pottery-making experience associated with Phuoc Tich pottery village, a model of providing food services for tourists associated with the local specialties…,” informed Mr. Bach.
Brand name alone is inadequate
Through the certified brand name, Phong Dien District can make certification for service business units in accordance with the set criteria towards the target of perfecting a synchronous and professional tourism ecosystem.
On the other hand, tourists will easily identify which services are up to the standards of the tourist destination management unit for them to use securely; the "trust" of the market is attributed to the quality criteria system and quality control system. Therefore, Phong Dien tourism is expecting to make a good impression on tourists, contributing to enhancing the value and reputation of the tourist destination with the brand "Old Scent of the Ancient Village".
Tourist businesses note that a tourist product or a tourist destination that wants to develop must first be known and trusted by the market. In order to be trusted, it is necessary to prove the reputation, quality and capability of maintaining the reputation and quality. Therefore, right from the step of creating a brand, Phuoc Tich must have a detailed "scenario" on products; determine the chain of services, plan of promotion; link, connect to exploit.
Recently, the Management Board of Artistic Architecture Monuments of Phuoc Tich Ancient Village has held the "Old Scent of the Ancient Village" market in 2022. This is a market held after more than two years of hiatus due to the pandemic. The market also attracts visitors, but overall, visitors come mainly from the district and surrounding areas.
Mr. Doan Quyet Thang, Director of the Management Board of Artistic Architecture Monuments of Phuoc Tich Ancient Village, said that the fair will be one of the activities and services of the "Old Scent of the Ancient Village" brand. Through this organization, we will learn from experience and improve more products and services in the coming time. The market will be regularly organized to attract visitors.The management board will connect with agencies, departments and businesses to step up the promotion of this activity.
Story and photo: Duc Quang