Tourists visited Đại Nội (the Royal Palace). Photo: Dang Tuyen
Among the ancient capitals of Vietnam, Hue is the sole place whose overall royal art architecture has been kept fairly intact. In the golden past, Hue produced a rich and unique culture, both inheriting the Thang Long cultural tradition and absorbing the new elements of Central, South Vietnam and the outside in order to create the identity of a cultural region – Hue culture.
To date, Hue has been rated by UNESCO as Vietnam's top locality in heritage conservation, capable of building a standard center for conservation technology transfer in Asia - Pacific.
On December 10, 2019, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 54-NQ / TW on building Thua Thien Hue to 2030, with a vision to 2045. The Politburo's viewpoint is building and developing Thua Thien Hue into a city directly under the central government on the basis of preserving and promoting the value of the ancient capital's heritage and Hue cultural identity, with cultural characteristics, heritage, ecology, landscape environmental friendliness and smartness. In particular, tourism is the key economic sector; information technology and communication are the breakthrough, and industry and hi-tech agriculture are the foundation
This is both a task and a great opportunity for Thua Thien Hue to affirm and enhance the status and role of cultural heritage, build Thua Thien Hue on the basis of cultural heritage, the most important of which is the quintessence of Hue royal cultural heritage.
The bamboo procession during Lễ Dựng Nêu (the Lunar New Year Pole Erection Ceremony) at Thế Miếu (the temple to worship the kings of the Nguyễn Dynasty)
In 2020, in Hue heritage area, Hue Monuments Conservation Center will continue to carry out the key tasks: jointly implementing the Project on resident relocation and site clearance in the zone I of Hue Imperial Citadel Monument; developing the plan on exploitation and use of monuments after the completion of resident relocation and site clearance; implementing the projects on exploitation of services, promotion of the value of the monuments; digitizing the monument database; renewing the operation model; restoring, embellishing and giving attention to the system of greenery and scattered flower gardens within the whole precincts; strengthening the revenue management and attracting socialization resources...
According to Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Phan Thien Dinh, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center needs to exploit more effectively the potentialities and strengths of Hue heritage area, especially in service activities. At the same time, more attention should be given to calling for socialization of service activities, arranging the service points within the monuments and developing the proper plan to reduce visitors at the solemn monuments.
Mr. Le Huu Minh, Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Tourism shared the two crucial things to help enhance the status of Hue heritage area. According to Le Huu Minh, it is appropriate to increase the ticket price to visit the Hue heritage area according to the road map, but it will be more convincing if the service activities at the tourist attractions continue to improve the service quality and to increase the revenue from this field.
Thua Thien Hue also needs to have appropriate mechanisms and policies to cooperate with travel agencies to create a stronger tourist attraction for Hue heritage area. With a tourism operator’s experience, Mr. Minh said that many other localities considered and implemented this policy, so the tour guides become the links between tourists and localities.
Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports, put forward the close and specific proposals to preserve and promote the value of Hue cultural heritage. According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, in order to continue preserving and promoting the values of the heritage, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center needs to continue to give great attention to the activities in the fields: scientific research, external cooperation and staff training. The problem is how Hue Monuments Conservation Center is eligible to become an exemplary center for restoration and preservation of cultural heritage in Asia-Pacific.
This is the assertion and convincing enhancement of the status of Thua Thien Hue, and hardly any locality can be compared. This is also consistent with shaping a future heritage city of Thua Thien Hue.
With the consent of the Provincial People's Committee, in 2020, the Department of Culture and Sports will make the overall assessment and inventory of cultural assets in the province. For this task, Hue Monuments Conservation Center also coordinates with the Department to make the inventory and overall assessment of the royal cultural heritage under the Nguyen Dynasty the unit is managing.
“We hope that this is an opportunity for Thua Thien Hue to inventory and fully assess the cultural assets under the local management. Simultaneously, it is also an opportunity for Thua Thien Hue to complete the dossier so that Hue Ancient Capital Monuments Complex can be re-nominated with the additional criteria. I deem that this time is a favorable opportunity because the task is compatible with Resolution No. 54 issued by the Politburo, in accordance with the orientation of developing Thua Thien Hue into a typical heritage city, a city directly under the central government on the basis of cultural heritage,” said Dr. Phan Thanh Hai.
Story and photos: DONG VAN