A natural landscape in Ba Vi district of Hanoi (Photo: nhandan.vn)The capitalcity welcomed 15.38 million visitors in the first 10 months, rising by overfive-fold from the same period last year. They included nearly 983,000 internationaltourist arrivals, according to the municipal Tourism Department.
With this result,Hanoi has surpassed the set target of 9 - 10 million arrivals for this year,according to the Nhan dan (People) daily.
This achievement isattributable to the city’s thorough preparations for tourism reopening after along hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the NationalReunification Day (April 30) and May Day holidays, Hanoi has launched andupgraded a number of products and services such as anight tour of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, a cycling tour of Bat Trangpottery village, the pedestrian zone surrounding the Son Tay ancient fortress,and the Trinh Cong Son pedestrian street.
NguyenDang Thao, head of the management board of the Duong Lam ancient village relicsite, said previously, tourists often visited Duong Lam by personal vehicles inone day. But thanks to some new products designed by local authorities like experiencetourism, craft village tourism, photo tours, and the pedestrian zonesurrounding the Son Tay ancient fortress, much improvement has been recorded inlocal tourism.
The numberof room bookings has increased by 30% over the last six months, he noted.
Directorof the Hanoitourist travel company Le Hong Thai said the city has satisfiedtravel demand, especially in the NationalReunification Day and May Day holidays, adding that it still has much room toobtain a better result and should take measures for promoting tourism recovery.
Aside from capitalising on heritagevalues in inner districts or famous relic sites in outlying areas, Hanoi shouldstep up the development of new tourism products, he recommended.
Tran Sy Tien, deputy head ofthe division for rural development at the municipal Department of Agricultureand Rural Development, said agricultural tourism has developed in the city forseveral years but yet to flourish. To boost agricultural and craft villagetourism, authorities should make a tourism development plan in the new-stylerural area building programme and multiply such models as the Bat Trang potteryvillage and Van Phuc silk village.
Some experts held that due tostrong urban development, people have high demand for relaxation at theweekend. Therefore, Hanoi should foster farm tourism and tap into naturalvalues to promote relaxation and exploration tourism.
From a remote area, Ba Vi districthas emerged as a bright spot of tourism thanks to its optimisation of local naturalconditions and special cultural identities of the Muong and Dao ethnic minoritygroups.
Vice Chairman of the Ba Vi People’sCommittee Nguyen Duc Anh noted the district is expected to welcome more than 2million tourist arrivals in 2022.
Some experts also recommendedHanoi strongly improve the quality of tourism human resources, which they saidis important to winning visitors’ satisfaction and enhancing the city’s attractiveness.
Pham Diem Hao, deputy head ofthe division for planning and development of tourism resources at the municipalTourism Department, said the sector is encouraging enterprises and localitiesto develop new and unique tourism products based on advantages of each area,noting that it is facilitating experience, sports, relaxation, health, and homestaytourism in Ba Vi district, Son Tay town, and Soc Son district; shopping tourismin Dong Anh and Soc Son districts; along with night and culinary tourism in theOld Quarter.
In the time ahead, theTourism Department will devise mechanisms for assisting enterprises andlocalities to build and upgrade their tourism products, she added./.
VNA
