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| Tourists checking in at the craft space during the Traditional Craft Festival Hue 2023 |
Attracting visitors through festivals
Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023 took place from April 28 to May 5 with the theme "The Quintessence of Vietnamese Crafts," bringing together 350 artisans and craftsmen from 69 units, representing 21 traditional craft groups nationwide. The event attracted a large number of tourists to Hue after a period of sluggish tourism activity due to the impact of COVID-19.
During the 8 days of Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023, the festival, along with associated events, attracted approximately 120,000 visitors to Hue, a 26% increase compared to the initial estimate of 95,000. Among them, 65,300 stayed overnight, a 17.6% increase over the forecast, and tourism revenue reached 194 billion VND, a 25% increase.
It is estimated that around 300,000 tourists, both domestic and international, visited and experienced the traditional craft festival activities during this period, generating revenue of over 20 billion VND from craft villages and culinary activities.
According to statistics, the total number of visitors to Hue in 2023 reached 2.1 million, a 12% increase compared to 2022, and tourism revenue reached 4,585 billion, a 186% increase over the same period. Two tourism development projects, namely the Ru Cha - Con Te community eco-tourism model and the community-based sea tourism model in Hai Duong, were approved by the City People's Council and have been planned for implementation by the City People's Committee. Night streets, such as Hoang Thanh (Imperial City) Night Street, Hai Ba Trung Pedestrian Street, and Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao Pedestrian Street, continue to be spaces welcoming tourists for entertainment, shopping, and experiences.
Along with tourism and services, commercial activities in the city in 2023 were lively, with stable purchasing power and market prices without significant fluctuations. The total retail sales of goods and services in 2023 reached 52,129 billion, a 13% increase compared to the same period.
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| Tourists sightseeing and shopping for specialties in Hue |
Building momentum for growth
To attract tourists to Hue in 2024, the city continues to implement solutions to stimulate tourism, training and improving skills for the workforce. This includes strengthening investment promotion, seeking new tourism products and services, diversifying markets, restructuring sources of visitors, promoting and connecting with major travel agencies in traditional markets, large markets, and new markets, at the same time, collaborating with media partners, tourism businesses, transportation units to establish and connect new tourism routes to effectively exploit the potential, strengths, and unique advantages of each locality.
According to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Hue City, Vo Le Nhat, in 2024, the city will focus on developing heritage tourism associated with the Complex of Hue Monuments, aiming for sophistication, professionalism, and distinctiveness. Along with that, the province will develop and promote products with the Hue brand, such as "Hue - the City of Festival", "Hue - the Culinary Capital", “Hue - the Capital of Ao Dai Vietnam", shopping tourism, night streets, community tourism, eco-tourism, wetland tourism, and beach tourism.
Simultaneously, the city will continue to maximize the effectiveness of pedestrian streets and exploit the pedestrian route on the south bank of the Perfume River combined with the pedestrian route on the north bank of the Huong River. This includes focusing on improving tourism services, tranquil traffic, and revitalizing activities in the pedestrian space of Nguyen Dinh Chieu and its vicinity to create focal points for serving both tourists and locals.
Another important solution is to explore domestic waterway tourism routes on the Huong River, Ngu Ha River, linking with cultural heritage tourism destinations, agricultural tourism, and experiential tourism in various localities. The effective implementation of approved tourism and cultural projects, including the community-based sea tourism model in Hai Duong and the eco-tourism model in Ru Cha – Con Te, will also be pursued; thereby, forming center for exhibiting, introducing and selling traditional craft products.
In 2024, the city will enhance the organization of festivals, cultural and tourism activities throughout the year, linked with the culture of Hue and its people, improving the quality and diversification of products, especially night tourism products and services, to create uniqueness and competitiveness. Concurrently, the city will build programs and plans to participate in the Four-Season Festival of the province and organizing promotional activities for the Clean ASEAN Tourism City.