Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director General of VNAT

Addressing at the conference, Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director General of VNAT highlighted the vital importance of tourism branding in reinforcing competitiveness of Viet Nam tourism, particularly in the context of globalization and international integration. The tourism branding strategy will play the guiding role for development of tourism products, promotion and marketing.

According to Mr. Le Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of International Cooperation Department who is responsible for drafting the strategy, destination brand reflects the perception of targeted audience on that destination and conveys core values, features and differences of the destination in comparison with the other ones. The mentioned core values include time, commitment, intensity and mystery, associated with 4 tourism product lines of cultural tourism, marine and island tourism, eco and natural tourism, and city tourism.

One of the most essential requirements in the roadmap of Viet Nam tourism brand development is heightening awareness and competence of relevant sides including ministries, localities, enterprises and local communities at tourism destinations on tourism branding, said Anh.

The strategy prioritizes to promote outstanding destination brands such as: Cultural tourism (Ha Noi, Hoi An, Hue, the lifestyle of Northern mountainous ethnic groups); sea and island tourism (Ha Long Bay, Phu Quoc Island, South Central Coast); natural tourism (Northern mountainous region, Phong Nha – Ke Bang and the Mekong Delta); Vietnamese cuisine.

The strategy also defines framework of action plans for each year, focusing on particular targeted markets in order to concentrate resources and strengthen the effectiveness of brand promotion campaigns. Especially, e-marketing will play a central part in tourism brand development.

Mr. Le Quoc Vinh – Chairman and CEO of Le Group of Companies proposed Viet Nam should choose cuisine being major brand of the tourism industry because cuisine could reflect cultural diversity, sophistication and regional characteristics of Viet Nam. Mr. Colin Pine - General Director of Ho Tram Project Company Ltd, who has lived and worked in Viet Nam for almost 20 years, thought that Viet Nam tourism could be branded based on friendly features of Vietnamese people.

To develop Viet Nam's tourism brand in a professional manner, the participants agreed on some prioritized issues including: identifying clearly core values associated with specific markets; conveying the brand via various channels; designing marketing and communication campaign suitable with new trends; and boosting interactive communication to enhance the effectiveness of brand communication.

Truyen Phuong