POSITIONING VIETNAM AS A HIGH-END CULTURAL DESTINATION

High-end cultural tourism is becoming a new development direction for Vietnam, focusing on leveraging cultural depth, heritage, and local experiences through value-added products.

- By Thai An

The visit to Khun village in Bang Lang commune of Tuyen Quang province two weeks ago by Thomas Gass, Ambassador of Switzerland to Vietnam and Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, offered distinctive experiences of local culture.

Here, they and other international guests experienced the cultural spaces of the Tay, Nung, Dao, and La Chi ethnic communities through traditional stilt houses, handicrafts, cycling tours to explore the villages, and exchanges with locals.

This model has been developed within the framework of the Swiss Tourism for Sustainable Development in Vietnam, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and implemented by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT).

The project has supported the development of a community-based tourism model involving 20 households in Khun village dedicated to preserving traditional culture. It has also invested approximately $26,000 to upgrade infrastructure, equipment, and the community tourism development fund.

Khalidi of the UNDP stated that the tourism model in Khun village demonstrates that community-based tourism development creates destinations for tourists and enables local people to preserve their culture and maintain traditional lifestyles.

"The UNDP and the Embassy of Switzerland in Vietnam have partnered with local communities to develop a tourism model that is created and owned by the community itself,” she said. “This is a process in which the community collectively builds an eco-destination based on its own cultural values and traditions.”