The áo dài ngũ thân-wearing tour of Hue City is a product likely to exploit the intra-provincial visitors. (áo dài ngũ thân: a type of traditional costume of the Vietnamese) (Photo taken prior to the 4th pandemic outbreak)
Preferences for Hue people
According to the Provincial Tourism Association, this is the time for stimulus programs exclusively for Hue people to be launched on the market. Recently, businesses have made huge efforts to launch new stimulus programs and packages to revive the “rhythm” of the Ancient Capital tourism.
The biggest promotions are done by the resorts, coastal and hilly resorts. The key line of product is assessed as appealing to tourists during the current pandemic. Laguna Lang Co has just won the "Travellers Choice Best" award for the top 25 best hotels in Vietnam in 2021 by TripAdvisor, so this resort launches a promotion program at the price of 999 thousand VND / visitor (Angsana area) and without surcharge on weekends.
Mr. Glen Cook, General Manager of Laguna Lang Co Resort said Hue is very safe; more than half of the resort's 300 employees have just been vaccinated against COVID-19.
It can be affirmed that ensuring safety during tourism exploitation has been shifted to a more proactive stage. That is why the resort is and will continue to launch new and attractive programs to express gratitude for visitors and increase the capability to attract visitors, first the intra-provincial visitors and then the domestic and international visitors in the long run.
At other resorts such as Pilgrimage Village, when booking swimming tickets, visitors who do not stay overnight will be served with dinner or afternoon tea. If visitors choose to stay, there will be the program to book swimming tickets at the price of 490 thousand VND / ticket, and they are served with a room and dinner when booking 2 tickets.
At Alba Thanh Tan, there is a program of 5-star safe resort vacation and body-mind health care at the price of 2 million VND / room / night. The resort package includes dinner, breakfast, onsen bath, zipline, highwire balance, round-trip shuttle bus in Hue City center and the resort…
All the eco-resorts such as Bach Ma Village and Yes Hue Eco have also re-operated after nearly 2 months of suspended operation. Aside from the 20-30% discount of the service price, the eco-resorts also provide a shuttle bus in the city, increasing the solutions for tourists to choose to use the service.
In addition, Hue Lotus Homestay (78 Minh Mang, Hue City) has started to launch summer experience services for students and parents who return after making the first tour. Duong Thi Thuy Hang, owner of Hue Lotus Homestay, said she is developing the program of 170,000 VND / person when visitors come to learn about culture - history, experience the craft village of weaving flowers, making cakes, farming, and animal husbandry….
More recently, Saigon Morin Hotel has just introduced the promotion program only from 749 thousand VND / room, applicable to the intra-provincial people. This enables them to choose a safe resort and fully enjoy excellent services. The program is applied from now to September 30, 2021.
Silk Path Grand Hotel Hue also launches the new program of experiencing an interesting summer day with a tropical green garden swimming pool, luxurious rooms and many beautiful "check-in" corners, at a price of 495 thousand VND / person / day, applicable from 9am to 6pm every day). The program is applied until July 31, 2021.
Lagoon tour is a product line likely to attract the intra-provincial visitors (Photo taken prior to the 4th pandemic outbreak)
More diversification of products needed
Considering the reality of exploiting the intra-provincial visitors since the outbreak of the pandemic, one thing which can be realized is that the exploited services and products are mostly at the destinations far from the city, resorts. Services associated with heritage, culture, cuisine, the Huong River... receives little attention to exploit the intra-provincial visitors
Obviously, there needs to be a quick assessment and a new, more synchronous plan for Hue people to visit, discover and experience the culture - heritage, diverse cuisine of Hue with proper products and services. With about 1.3 million people, it is certain that there remain many people in the province, who have never visited a heritage site or listened to Hue traditional folk songs.
Mr. Dinh Manh Thang, Chairman of the Provincial Tourism Association, assessed that the solutions for stimulating the intra-provincial tourism demand have not been boosted in the city center. The people in the city traveling right at the heart of the city may sound illogical, but it is a new trend.
In big cities, the tour model of high-class service experience on weekends, exclusively for inner-city visitors is the solution for helping hotels operate stably. Currently, a number of hotels in Hue City center develop the programs to keep pace with this trend.
Chairman of the Provincial Tourism Association said that, along with the proactivity of businesses, the State also needs to develop the timely policies for businesses to be bolder in exploitation. Regarding the solutions to attract tourists, it is necessary to formulate the strategy "Hue people travel in Hue" with scale and synchronization.
Currently, the association is researching and soon exploiting a new tour: experiencing new services on the sea and lagoon by day, returning to the city by night and enjoying a "king’s meal”. Then tourists enjoy Hue traditional singing on the Huong River and stay overnight at a luxury hotel…
According to the Provincial Tourism Association, in order to attract intra-provincial tourists, service prices will be key. Businesses involved in tour exploitation will jointly implement a non-profit business strategy, the costs collected from tourists will be used to maintain operations and create jobs for employees.
Mr. Tran Huu Thuy Giang, Director of the Department of Tourism, said in order to safely exploit intra-provincial tourists, businesses need to continue to comply with the set of safety criteria announced by the province. The sector will continue to support market optimization, thereby developing an orientation towards proper products; continue to orient and encourage the improvement of the quality of existing tourism products. Especially, priority should be given to vaccination for employees in the tourism industry, from 4,000 currently to 7,000 employees.
Story and photos: Quang Sang