Through a photo and video contest, Hue tourism industry hopes to widely promote the image of Tam Giang – Cau Hai lagoon.
Attracting visitors through a photo & video contest
Mr. Tran Huu Thuy Giang, Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism affirmed that advertising, especially with new ways to take advantage of digital transformation to change the approach to customers, is the decisive factor for Hue to attract visitors, thereby changing the perception of tourists about Hue, the destination with many interesting and new things.
One of the specific solutions that was implemented, which is when the Department of Tourism launched a photo and video contest themed “Hue in me” and officially received participating works from April 1. Within the first 3 days, dozens of works were sent to the organizers, with diverse perspectives on the largest lagoon in Southeast Asia: Tam Giang - Cau Hai.
Mr. Tran Huu Thuy Giang shared that promoting images in the form of interaction through a specific contest is a promising way to help spread beautiful images and videos of Hue landscapes, heritages and cultural values. Specifically, the practical experience of visitors is a form of stimulation to invite other visitors to Hue to experience on-site destinations themselves and directly participate in the contest.
At this moment, the organizers have announced the theme for each month throughout the contest. This is for the visitors to be more proactive in deciding when to come to Hue.
In particular, the theme for April is "Tam Giang - Cau Hai Lagoon"; "Beautiful beaches of Hue" for May; "City of Festivals" for June; "The most beautiful check-in spots in Hue" for July; "To the domain of heritages" for August; "The Ao Dai Capital of Vietnam" for September; "The Capital of Gastronomy" for October; "Traditional craft villages in Hue" for November and "The beauty of the highlands" for December.
According to the Department of Tourism, the organizers will coordinate with travel agencies to design new tours, preferential programs corresponding to the topic of each month in order to stimulate travel demand associated with taking part in the contest. As the biggest tourism contest ever, with the maximum support and cooperation from businesses, the event is expected to contribute significantly to creating more highlights attracting visitors to Hue.
In recent years, the tourism industry has regularly held contests on tourism promotion. The contests have created a good spread and well promoted the destinations.
New experiences need to be better promoted (Young people in five-panel ao dai visiting heritages)
Applying digital technology to promote
According to experts, for a long time, many domestic tourists have been assuming that Hue is a one-day destination with only heritages. However, in reality, Hue has a diverse culture, nature, people, and foods; and can perfectly attract visitors to stay for 2-3 days, or even longer if predetermined solutions could be well synchronized.
Mr. Tran Trong Kien, Chairman of the National Tourism Advisory Council, said that promotion is always one of the most important solutions to develop a destination. While it is not possible to carry out traditional forms of promotion during a pandemic, digital promotion is the optimal alternative. This is also a trend of tourism in future, when digital technology allows the destination to reach most customers.
Mr. Tran Huu Thuy Giang affirmed that since April 2020, due to not being able to promote directly, the industry has cooperated with social networking sites such as Facebook, tiktok, YouTube, zalo ... to promote online. This form of promotion shows a depth effect.
Using Zalo, for example, when visitors search for a destination, they are automatically provided with information and businesses with related services for them to choose what to do, in the form of a smart "chatbot”.
Statistics from social networking sites from April to December of 2020 showed that destination information in Hue on social networks has reached 17 million visitor access, striving to reach 30 million visitor access in 2021.
According to the Department of Tourism, after the National Administration of Tourism, Hue might be the first locality in the country to build a virtual promoting booth on the Internet and connected to "showrooms" (online promoting booths) around the world.
The Department of Tourism has licensed tourism businesses in the province to access and develop promotional contents. This would help businesses promote their images to the desired markets, and anticipate the flow of international visitors in the future.
In order to catch up with the digital technology trends, the tourism industry continues to work with its partners to establish smart travel applications on digital platforms. In addition to promoting the general tourism industry, this is also a form of free support for businesses in the province, contributing to helping them recover early and discover new solutions.
The organizers of the "Hue in me" photo & video contest said that the monthly prize is 20 million VND in total, consisting of 2 first prizes of 5 million in cash for each category and a pair of round-trip flight tickets for Vietnam domestic routes and vouchers for various tourism and service agencies in Hue; 2 second prizes of 3 million VND in cash and vouchers for various tourism and service agencies in Hue; 2 third prizes of 2 million VND in cash and vouchers for various tourism and service agencies in Hue.
Story and photos: Duc Quang