Tourists bored by same old souvenirs

      The tourism sector has been hit by falling international visitor numbers and measures to shore up the figures have largely revolved around providing cheaper tour packages and improved services.
However, there is an important problem that has received little attention – the lack of quality souvenirs.
When tourists visit Viet Nam, besides their demand for accommodation, food and sightseeing, they also want to buy products that are unique to the country, says an Australian shopping on Le Thanh Ton Street in HCM City’s District 1.
According to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, the number of foreign visitors in the first two months of this year dropped 10.3 per cent to about 689,000 compared to the same period last year.
While there are many reasons for the decrease, the lack of handicrafts and other products of good quality and unique to Viet Nam will hurt tourism, especially when neighbouring countries present tough competition.
Many shops in HCM City sell handicrafts, silk and traditional clothes, but they are similar to each other and there are few items that are unique, the Australian said.
When they wanted to buy a present or souvenir they had to spend a lot of time looking but they were generally dissatisfied with the products.
It is clear that the poor quality and even the sameness of products are preventing stores from getting tourists to spend more money than they do now.
Clothes or handicraft stores on Le Thanh Ton and Dong Khoi streets or at the Ben Thanh night market which target foreigners, typically have similar products.
Le Nhat Vien, a Vietnamese-American tourist, said she visited a handicraft shop in Dong Khoi looking for gifts for her friends and relatives, but found it difficult to get something that she really liked.
Handmade embroideries, dry flowers, artefacts made of bamboo and rattan and traditional clothes sold in most of shops in District 1 do not serve tourists looking for something unique, and there are many of them.
Vien said she was able to find good souvenirs in neighbouring countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, but she was unable to find quality products particular to Viet Nam.
There are typical motifs displayed in many lacquer paintings, but they are not of very good quality and the problem is not just that tourists find them unattractive, but also that they create a negative impression.
A salesperson in the Tombo shop in District 1 says HCM City seems to be a tourist magnet, with wide range of goods from other regions for sale. However it is still difficult, if not impossible, for a foreigner to find a really special item with features unique to HCM City.
So not only is there a tourism niche waiting to be exploited, mass-produced low quality products are creating an image of the country that might not match campaigns like "Impressive Viet Nam"