Responsible Development of Dien Bien Phu as a Historical & Cultural Destination in Cooperation with 8 Northwest Provinces

March 2014, Dien BienKai Partale, Tourism Sector Specialist ESRT

International visitors Domestic visitors

Total HCMC Hanoi Sapa Halong Hue(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

(n=200) (n=40) (n=40) (n=40) (n=40) (n=40)

29

23

17

16

11

11

54

54

65 63

58

58

58

18

13

15

8

15

60

33

48

25

25

15

5

8

8

60

78

68

28

25

15

20

10

5

68

60

20

28

23

23

5

10

53 90

35

35

15

20

20

15

25

15

To experience local culture and heritage

To experience nature

To relax and rejuvenate

To spend time with my partner

To socialize with friends or meet new people

To take a family holiday

To be active and adventurous

To enjoy the peace and quietness of not crowded

destination

To indulge in a luxurious escape

49

18

15

11

10

10

58

64

74

Total HCMC Hanoi Sapa Halong Hue(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

(n=200) (n=40) (n=40) (n=40) (n=40) (n=40)

63

75

43

65

15

10

25

0

8

83

68

60

55

20

8

5

10

25

80

70

38

18

25

15

28

5

80

53

55

20

15

8

0

3

75

85 58

55

33

33

15

15

3

13

8

To experience local culture and heritage

To relax and rejuvenate

To experience nature

To take a family holiday

To socialize with friends or meet new people

To spend time with my partner

To be active and adventurous

To enjoy the peace and quietness of an

Not crowded destinationTo indulge in a luxurious

escape

Source: Responsible Travel Barometer, Nielsen 2010

RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF DBP

Responsible Tourism serves as a strategic direction for the overall development of the sector and links to Cultural Heritage Tourism in the following areas: Overcrowding at sites / Destruction of resources by tourists / business practicesCommercialisation leading to degradation of resources / Negative impacts from other economic sectorsWeak cooperation amongst local stakeholders at tourism sitesWeak policy support for the conservation of cultural resources in tourism policies and planningConflicting interests between agencies responsible for heritage conservation and tourism development

6 Pillar of the Responsible Tourism Policy Framework

Creating a Dynamic and Efficient Tourism Sector

Expanding Knowledge and Understanding

Investing in

Human Capital/ Resources

Conserving and Enhancing Natural and Cultural Resources

Achieving Competitive-ness with Sustainability

Creating Broad-

based Socio-Economic Develop-ment

Cul

ture

Nat

ure

North Asia

ASEAN Austra-lia

Russia North America

Europe New Domestic

Heritage, general touring

Ethnic culture

Pilgrim/religion

New life style

Protected areas

Mountain resorts

Adventure

Beach holiday

Ha Long Bay

Mekong Cruise

Cruise liners

City breaks

Short breaks

Classic tour

MICE

Golf

Coa

stS

peci

al

inte

rest

City

WILDERNESS

NATURE

CULTURE

ADVENTURE

NATURE

CULTURE

HISTORY

NATURE

CULTURE

LAND

NATURE

CULTURE

EVENTS

NATURE

CULTURE

MOUNTAINS

NATURE

CULTURE

HOSPITALITY

NATURE

CULTURE

DIEN BIENLAI CHAU

LAO CAI

YEN BAI

PHU THO

HA GIANG

HOA BINH

PRODUCE

NATURE

CULTURE

SON LA

TOURISM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Tourism Product Development is the process of developing the assets of a destination into goods, services and experiences that are reflective of the leisure and recreational needs of the tourists. Responsible tourism products are not only economicly viable but also work to minimize negative social and environmental impacts.

Objective To improve understanding of Vietnamese history and its connection with global history

Angle / Ethos “Touching History” reducing barriers to bring people in touch with important chapters of Vietnam’s past; Promotion of inter-regional dialogue

Approach • Use “infotainment” and “edutainment” and all modern methods of communication and interpretation to deliver engaging information

• Work up from individual historical periods to the recent past• Implement in-depth Vietnamese history classes and study tours• Develop history trails and routes with historic sites and interpretation

centres

Sustainability considerations

• Sensitive conservation of historic sites• Sensitive interpretation of history and culture• Increase length of stay & spend by providing a range of high quality

services• Ensure local employment opportunities in process

EncouterMeeting the Minority People

EncouterMeeting the Minority People

Fun & Enter-tainmentMuseums

Fun & Enter-tainmentMuseums

Accommodation Him Lam Resort

Accommodation Him Lam Resort

CateringEthnic Food

CateringEthnic Food

Culture-SpecialPlace of revolution

Culture-SpecialPlace of revolution

WellbeingNature activities /Trekking

WellbeingNature activities /Trekking

Marketing: Inspiring History

Marketing: Inspiring History

Product Line

Culture „Endless Memories“

Mountainous experiences

MANAGEMENT & COORDINATION

Destinations generate the services expected by customers. Collaboration of industries and their ability to compete, influences the competitiveness of the destination. Collaboration of the service providers and an enabling environment is necessary in the development of sales in destinations.

SURVEY RESULTS OF 8 NW PROVINCES

The survey was conducted amongst 8 participants of the 8 NW Technical Working Group. All stakeholders agreed that cooperation is definitely useful and necessary for a sustainable and professional tourism development, especially in marketing and promotion, policies and strategies, quality standards, and human resources.

Responses 8

Marketing / Promotional Activities applied by DCSTs

• Interaction / cooperation between all stakeholders is ranging between very good and quite good

• The majority evaluates stakeholder interaction / cooperation with districts within a province very good

• However there is still improvement for inter-provincial cooperation, with the business sector and on a national level

• All DCSTs highly confirm the necessity of cooperation within all listed fields of activities

• Membership and stakeholder management receives a lower degree of necessity

Interactions of stakeholders and useful areas of cooperation

Necessary Could be useful

Un-necessary

Marketing & Promotion of North-western tourism

8

Membership & Stakeholder Management

3 4 1

Policies and strategies within North-western

8

Information research 7 1

Product development 8

Development of (quality) standards

7 1

Human resource development

8

Responses 8

Examples of good practice covered in the Responsible Tourism Toolkit / delivered through the Seminars which are linked to NW Provinces collaboration and Cultural Heritage Tourism:Responsible Tourism Product DevelopmentSupport Responsible Tourism DestinationsResponsible Marketing and Communications in TourismCommunity action in Resposnible Tourism…

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM SEMINARS

The ‘Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme’ (2011 - 2015) is a European Union funded sector programme within the main activities in 1) Policy support and institutional strengthening, 2) Product competitiveness and public-private dialogue and 3) Vocational

education and training.

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