Hoi An diversifies tourism products

Old town, play a little every day then go home

Ms. CMN's family came to Hoi An and chose to stay at a resort 7 km from the old town. "I chose a place near Cua Dai beach, which has a free daily bus to the city. On sunny days, we stay at the beach, and in the morning and evening, we wander into the city. I bought a 120,000 VND sightseeing ticket and got to visit all the museums in Hoi An, Tan Ky ancient house, Tran family church, Cau pagoda, Phuc Kien assembly hall... The ticket is valid for 3 days, so I wandered around the city every day to see everything," she shared.

PHOTO: MANH CUONG

Hoi An has long had a strategy of "population dispersion", reducing the load and creating diverse tourism products. Coming to Hoi An, tourists should experience two things. First, is to experience Hoi An ancient town, which according to the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) is the experience of a "living museum of architecture and urban lifestyle" with ports, houses combined with shops, a system of clan temples, Chinese assembly halls, Japanese bridges... These experiences are maintaining high quality thanks to Hoi An always trying to preserve the space of a "living museum". Restoration is also carried out methodically, with the recent restoration of the 400-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge being an example. Second, is to experience the surrounding lands with the sea, with green vegetable fields and side jobs...

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Binh, Secretary of the Hoi An Ward Party Committee, Hoi An ancient town currently attracts a large number of visitors every day. The traffic infrastructure and roads are relatively narrow, while the land fund is too small. Therefore, the leaders of Hoi An and neighboring wards are calculating to "redraw the traffic map" to solve the current congestion situation. "In the near future, the walking street will be expanded to serve the needs of tourists to enjoy and visit heritage sites. Parks and public spaces will also continue to be planned more, because Hoi An is currently very crowded," said Mr. Binh.

Regarding the old town, Mr. Binh also said that it is necessary to deal with the deterioration of relics, as well as the illegal renovation of houses by people, changing the architectural structure for business purposes, causing the traditional living space to be narrowed. This causes the "old ways" to gradually fade away. At the same time, the government must educate the community and improve the legal and planning corridors. In particular, after merging the wards and communes, Hoi An must still be kept in a unified whole as it is. One of the issues that must be solved in the future is to recalculate the planning of street vendors; where is it allowed to sell, where must absolutely keep the atmosphere for visitors to walk around and visit.

Tra Que, Triem Tay, Cu Lao Cham...

A special advantage of Hoi An is the presence of the Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve. The ancient town and the biosphere reserve are a combination that helps visitors extend their stay, while adding interest to both heritages. Cu Lao Cham has very attractive and sustainable biodiversity protection activities. For example, visitors from Hoi An will see that the stone crabs here are "labeled", to be monitored and only exploited when large enough to avoid extinction. The lack of plastic bags also helps the corals in Cu Lao Cham to grow again...

Hoi An ancient town is also "de-crowded" thanks to "satellites" such as Cu Lao Cham, Tra Que village, Triem Tay village... with a travel distance of about half an hour. In particular, Tra Que vegetable village offers farming experiences, cooking lessons... as well as enjoying vegetables with a special sweet and fragrant taste thanks to the climate and soil here. Triem Tay village has garden experiences, admiring ancient trees, taking a boat ride... This village after the community tourism project implemented by UNESCO also has a special tourist map. In it, the village roads and alleys appear with their own names that Triem Tay people still call: Ba Chi ferry, Thien Tue alley, hundred-year-old cycad tree, community garden, ancient fig tree.

According to the Secretary of Hoi An Ward, in order for Hoi An heritage to truly reach new heights and bring unique experiences, there needs to be stronger investment in promoting intangible cultural values. In addition, Hoi An still needs more interactive activities and experiential classes to help visitors "touch" the local culture more deeply.

Remember, Ms. Pham Thanh Huong, Head of the Culture Department of the UNESCO Hanoi Office, once said in 2018: "One problem of Hoi An is that tourism is concentrated in the center. Although Hoi An is the most popular tourist destination in Vietnam for the international community, this concentration also leads to many complaints. After visiting all the tourist destinations, they see a lack of connection between the heritage-owning community and tourists. Hoi An is also disconnected from the surrounding area."

Therefore, Hoi An's awareness and continuous creation of connections with other tourist destinations outside the ancient town is a wise strategy of the locality. The story of heritage management in Hoi An is proof that to maximize its effectiveness, heritage not only needs to be preserved but also revived, integrated into contemporary life and brought benefits to the community. "Pulling" people and tourists out of the core area, expanding the space for community tourism development, investing in intangible cultural experiences and exploiting the advantages of neighboring tourist destinations are strategic steps, demonstrating Hoi An's sustainable vision over the years. (continued)

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