New policies are being implemented to support business for effective services (Visitors in ao dai to the heritage site on the International Women’s Day)
Phu Loc as a tourist highlight
With the cooperation of the local authorities, the tourism leaders have recently had survey trips to the sites of community tourism and ecotourism. These trips have enabled the tourism to make fair judgments of the levels of security and pandemic control at the destinations, as well as the service quality, and accordingly supplementing different services and planning new tours in the long run, especially during the summer of 2021.
After these survey tours, the tourism industry will have directions for travel agencies in the province to organize tours that ensure both tourists’ leisure demands and covid-19 pandemic prevention in order to attract more visitors. Notably, the provincial leaders participated in all these survey tours so that they could understand the reality and have appropriate policies to support tourism industry and businesses in their resilience.
According to Mr. Tran Huu Thuy Giang, Deputy Director of the Tourism Department, Hue welcomes about 1,500 arrivals each day, as after the Tet holidays. Especially, the number of visitors may be up to 2,500 – 3,000 at weekends. One-third of these visitors arrived in Phu Loc. It is estimated that the number of visitors to Phu Loc will remain stable or increase thanks to the visitors from Danang.
One of the drawbacks was the loose association of destinations, leading to the humble revenues due to visitors’ short stays. Realizing this, the Tourism Department is planning a new tour that combines the exploration of Cau Hai and the visits to Thanh Duyen and Diem Phung pagodas. The potential customers are guests staying in Vedana Lagoon resort in Phu Loc.
In addition to the new tour being shaped, services are improved and facilities upgraded at the destinations of ecotourism in Phu Loc, including Mo spring, Voi spring and Tien spring. Other destinations connected with the beaches of Canh Duong, Loc Binh and Ham Rong, together with Bach Ma National Park, are expected to become tourist attractions in the near future.
“Tourists tend to choose the destinations close to natural life, and therefore, community tourism, ecotourism and sea tourism are the main products to attract domestic tourists. Apart from Phu Loc as a tourist highlight, the Tourism Department will continue to have more survey tours in other districts to have timely directions for planning the new tours in A Luoi; agrotourism closely tied to craft villages and lagoon life in Quang Dien and Phong Dien,” said Tran Huu Thuy Giang.
Demands and chance
According to the leader from Tourism Department, like many other cultural heritage destinations, Hue has faced the difficulty in attracting domestic tourists, who are the mainstream of tourists in 2020 and 2021. Evidently, while there were a small number of visitors to Hue and Quang Nam in summer 2020 under the influence of the pandemic, many tourists still flocked to Danang beaches.
Therefore, it is necessary for Hue to be more proactive and well-prepared for new products and services that satisfy the guests, as well as to have a plan for demand-raising and promotion campaigns.
Ms. Le Thi Them, Head of the Office of Culture and Information in A Luoi, said that A Luoi was a promising land for tourism, especially the community tourism and ecotourism. These strengths enable A Luoi to have attracted tourists recently. In preparation for a new season, the district has already cooperated with travel agencies to set up tours with supportive policies and appropriate prices. The sooner the preparation, the better opportunity for A Luoi.
Mr. Dinh Manh Thang, Chairman of the Provincial Tourism Association, pointed out that in the demand-raising policies, pricing is important but satisfying customer demands is more important. The attraction to visitors depends on the ability to define the customers and their demands. The time for demand raising is also important.
As the pandemic has not been under complete control, people somehow hesitate to travel. It is now time for the preparation of demand-raising policies and packages, which will be put into use once the pandemic is controlled.
Among the demand-raising packages offered by the Provincial Tourism Association, many have been targeted students. In addition, the excursions and entertainment programs are also being shaped, drawing the attention of the organizations and agencies in and out of the province.
Story and photo: Duc Quang