Creative tourism in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City is a special urban area, a major tourist
center in the region, playing a leading role, a driving force to
promote and disseminate major policies and guidelines in
researching the potential for creative tourism development
associated with promoting cultural heritage and cultural
industry. From there, it helps to share experiences and be a
reference source for other localities across the country to
develop the tourism industry effectively and sustainably.
Tourism products associated with cultural heritage values
Ho Chi Minh City currently has 185 relics that have been ranked,
including 2 special national relics (historical relics), 58
national relics (2 archaeological relics, 32 architectural and
artistic relics, 24 historical relics), 125 city-level relics
(75 architectural and artistic relics, 50 historical relics)
recognized. Currently, the city has 18/21 districts with
cultural tourism programs such as: "Tan Phu, go and remember",
"Memories of Saigon - Cho Lon", "Saigon for a hundred years -
Hoa Trai Thuong Ho", "Come to Cho Lon to see lion dance", "Vivid
Saigon", "Memories of Saigon Special Forces", "One day of
tourism - Imprint of District 10", "There is a very different
Cho Lon", "Go Vap - A hundred years of finding the old traces",
"Hoc Mon - Historical land", "Phu Nhuan - Where we return".
Since 2022, Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Department has also built
two new, unique products with the characteristics of the City:
"Viewing the city from above" by helicopter and "Cruise on the
Saigon River".
The city has 9 types of traditional craft villages operating and
developing, including 7 types of small-scale handicraft villages
such as: Rice paper craft village; Weaving craft village; Bamboo
blind craft village; Basket weaving craft village; Incense
making craft village; Salt craft village; Dried seafood
processing craft village. Developing traditional craft villages
helps tourists have the opportunity to express their creativity
when visiting and participating in hands-on experiences at craft
villages.
The city also has many performing arts spaces that attract
domestic and foreign tourists: Truc Mai House - a place to
introduce and perform traditional musical instruments such as
flutes, monochords, zithers, drums, lithophones, T'rungs, K'long
puts, etc.; Boi Theater at Le Van Duyet Mausoleum - a place to
introduce traditional Tuong art and plays about the life of "Duc
Thuong Cong Ta Quan Le Van Duyet"; Collection of traditional
musical instruments at the private home of Meritorious People's
Artist Duc Dau; Circus and puppetry at Gia Dinh Park and Lu Gia
area; Traditional and modern art programs at the City Theater;
Water puppetry at the Labor Culture Palace and the City History
Museum; Cai Luong at Tran Huu Trang Theater, etc.
The tourism human resources in the City are qualified, dynamic
and creative. Tourism activities help to approach local culture,
creating conditions for tourists to participate directly to
create experiences. Among them are many talented and experienced
performing artists and artisans. From there, it brings a
positive emotional connection between tourists and cultural and
artistic values, heritage, helping to increase authentic
experiences, deep feelings about local art and cultural
heritage.
Impressive creative travel destination
To effectively exploit creative tourism in Ho Chi Minh City, it
is necessary to enhance the role of state management in tourism:
Organize events, exhibitions, seminars and competitions on
creative tourism; Organize training courses, research projects
and share knowledge on creative tourism; Promote the role of an
intermediary in creating a network of connections and supporting
businesses; Encourage local communities to participate in
contributing ideas and selecting the most impressive values to
create new tourism products, focusing on telling stories about
history, culture, traditional craft villages, historical marks
at the destination; Encourage the use of new technologies such
as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, online; Provide
financial support to maintain operations at traditional stages;
Improve the quality of lecturers and researchers at training
institutions.
Promote and exploit the values of cultural heritage and cultural
products by enhancing the experience of tourists in tour
programs and tourism services. Increase interaction time so that
tourists can listen to the sharing of artisans and artists.
Create conditions for tourists to directly participate in
cultural performances, arts, and art creations with local
people.
Completing infrastructure and cultural institutions to promote
typical cultural values in Ho Chi Minh city such as: Building an
art museum to focus on displaying traditional cultural and
artistic values in Ho Chi Minh City such as Cai Luong, Don Ca
Tai Tu, Hat Boi, traditional musical instruments... This will be
a place to perform, honor traditional artistic values and
organize creative performances for tourists; Building a house to
display traditional craft villages such as Ly Nhon salt making,
An Hoi bronze casting, Phu Binh lantern making, Bay Hien
weaving..., this is a place for artisans to perform, creating
conditions for visitors to experience reality, shortening travel
time to craft villages in the tourist itinerary in the city.
Communicate about services and creative tourism programs on
high-tech tourism products. Develop electronic promotional
publications suitable for the tastes of each key market. Promote
marketing communications for creative tourism products on online
platforms, creating positive communication effects so that
tourists can easily access and be attracted by different
experiences compared to previous programs and products.
Thus, developing creative tourism in Ho Chi Minh City requires
support and action from local authorities, state tourism
management agencies, financial resources, and human resources to
promote cultural values and cultural industries. Effectively
exploiting the factor of developing cultural products and
services through festival activities, traditional art
performances, creating impressions in craft villages, etc. will
help tourists increase their feelings and experiences when
coming to cultural tourist destinations in Ho Chi Minh city.
Developing creative tourism not only aims at sustainable tourism
development values, but also promotes a modern, standard
cultural environment, raises awareness and responsibility of
city residents in preserving cultural heritage, arousing love
and pride right where they live and create together.
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