Tourists drawn to trade villages

Remodeling traditional trade villages to serve tourists is an important part of developing the national tourism industry and promoting handicrafts, said Hoang Chuong, director of the Centre for Preservation and Promotion of National Culture.
"Tourists to Viet Nam don't just want to enjoy beautiful landscapes – they also want to understand the culture and traditions of the people. That's why tours to trade villages are not less attractive than eco-tourism and adventure tours," Chuong told the Tourism, Cultural Values of Traditional Craft Villages' Products workshop on Tuesday in Ha Noi.
The one-day event held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism aimed to honour traditional handicrafts, find solutions to promote the trade and develop trade village tourism.
"Visitors to Viet Nam often buy products from craft villages as souvenirs, and Vietnamese people bring them when they go to foreign countries," Chuong said.
"I was moved when I visited politicians and businessmen abroad and found handicrafts made in Viet Nam displayed in their houses."
Vuong Duy Bien, vice minister of culture, agreed: "Craft village tourism has many advantages and great potential to develop. In recent years, this kind of tourism has played an important role in the national tourism industry."
"In my opinion, promoting craft village tourism is not easy. It's hard to preserve the villages' unique nature while also making them accessible to tourists," Bien said.
Luu Duy Dan, president of Viet Nam Association for Craft Villages, suggested building museums in the villages to both explain the villages' history and market products.
"Some private collectors have opened exhibition houses at Bat Trang Pottery Village to show off their collections and through them, many tourists can understand the unique craft of the village," he said.
"Artisans should upgrade products' quality," Dan said. "Besides having beautiful designs, the products should be durable enough to bring to foreign countries and be preserved for a long time."