Duong Lam village in Hanoi’s Son Tay town retains most of the characteristics of a typical Vietnamese village: a village gate, banyan trees, a wharf, a communal yard, pagodas, a well and rice fields. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Hanoi’s Department of Tourism has begun offering training classes toresidents living in areas that receive heavy tourist traffic, aiming to promotecommunity-based tourism and improve the quality of tourist services.
According to the department, tourism is a key industryin Hanoi’s economy. The city boasts more than 1,300 craft villages, over 600cultural and historical sites and about 1,000 annual festivals.
Lastyear, about 22 million visitors came to Hanoi, an 11 percent increase from 2015.The city expects to welcome 23.6 million visitors this year, including 4.3 millionforeigners. But serving visitors to help make sure they want to make a returnvisit to Hanoi is an art and a skill that can be difficult to master.
Last year, to address this need for training, thetourism department opened three tourism-related classes for people in thecommunes of Ba Trai, Van Hoa and Ba Vi in the suburban district of Ba Vi.
In August 2017, another class was opened for people in Quang An ward in Tay Ho district. Last month, nearly 100 people in Thuy Lam commune of Dong Anh district participated in a similar class.
During these classes, people receive information aboutthe benefits of tourism, skills to communicate and serve tourists andinstructions on the need to keep the environment clean and green.
Pham Hung Son, head of Duong Lam Ancient Village RelicManagement Board, said that Duong Lam villagers understand the benefits oftourism. More than 120 families in the village participate in the tourismindustry, including by offering homestay services or other tourism products.
Nguyen Manh Truong, vice chairman of the Quang An WardPeople’s Committee, said that the ward was famous fordecorative plants, lotus ponds and lotus-scented-tea as well as religious siteslike Tay Ho Temple and Kim Lien Pagoda.
More than 700 families in the ward rent houses toforeigners. During peak times, he said, the ward hosts up to 3,000 foreignvisitors.
“With such advantages, Quang An residents are excitedto join tourism activities, particularly because of the economic benefits tofamilies and localities,” Truong said.
Chu Thi Minh Tam, head of Tay Ho district’s CultureDivision, said that in order to engage the local community in tourismdevelopment, it was necessary to facilitate opportunities for them toparticipate in tourism planning and then supervise the implementation of theplans.
“This will help to produce more practical planning andhelp local residents properly know about changes to the land they are livingin,” Tam said. “Improvement of public awareness of the need topreserve natural and cultural values of the locality also helps ensurestability in their lives.”
Vu An Dan, head of Tourism Faculty under Hanoi OpenUniversity, said that human resources should be the first area of focus in anyeffort to speed up tourism development.
“Poor human resources, poor service quality meansvisitors will not return,” Dan said.
He said that such tourism training classes for localcommunities were very helpful, particularly if they addressed two widespreadweaknesses among tourism industry employees: maintaining industry standards ofprofessionalism and foreign language competence.-VNA
Last year, to address this need for training, thetourism department opened three tourism-related classes for people in thecommunes of Ba Trai, Van Hoa and Ba Vi in the suburban district of Ba Vi.
In August 2017, another class was opened for people in Quang An ward in Tay Ho district. Last month, nearly 100 people in Thuy Lam commune of Dong Anh district participated in a similar class.
During these classes, people receive information aboutthe benefits of tourism, skills to communicate and serve tourists andinstructions on the need to keep the environment clean and green.
Pham Hung Son, head of Duong Lam Ancient Village RelicManagement Board, said that Duong Lam villagers understand the benefits oftourism. More than 120 families in the village participate in the tourismindustry, including by offering homestay services or other tourism products.
Nguyen Manh Truong, vice chairman of the Quang An WardPeople’s Committee, said that the ward was famous fordecorative plants, lotus ponds and lotus-scented-tea as well as religious siteslike Tay Ho Temple and Kim Lien Pagoda.
More than 700 families in the ward rent houses toforeigners. During peak times, he said, the ward hosts up to 3,000 foreignvisitors.
“With such advantages, Quang An residents are excitedto join tourism activities, particularly because of the economic benefits tofamilies and localities,” Truong said.
Chu Thi Minh Tam, head of Tay Ho district’s CultureDivision, said that in order to engage the local community in tourismdevelopment, it was necessary to facilitate opportunities for them toparticipate in tourism planning and then supervise the implementation of theplans.
“This will help to produce more practical planning andhelp local residents properly know about changes to the land they are livingin,” Tam said. “Improvement of public awareness of the need topreserve natural and cultural values of the locality also helps ensurestability in their lives.”
Vu An Dan, head of Tourism Faculty under Hanoi OpenUniversity, said that human resources should be the first area of focus in anyeffort to speed up tourism development.
“Poor human resources, poor service quality meansvisitors will not return,” Dan said.
He said that such tourism training classes for localcommunities were very helpful, particularly if they addressed two widespreadweaknesses among tourism industry employees: maintaining industry standards ofprofessionalism and foreign language competence.-VNA
VNA
