New ideas in traditional craft village tourism

Traditional craft village development potential, solutions to developing tours to craft villages and bringing into play cultural heritage values of handicraft villages were presented at an international seminar in Hanoi on Oct. 4.
At the seminar, Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism's Travel Department Vu The Binh said that each heritage and traditional craft village contained attractive and new interests for tourists.
Tourists can understand Vietnam’s culture, beliefs and history through tours to heritages and villages, he said.
Many traditional crafts have been restored thanks to the development of traditional craft villages for tourism.
Representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam said that JICA would assist the development of sustainable self-reliant communities through heritage tourism.
The project which will be carried out for four years until 2014 is intended to improve the living conditions of people in Duong Lam ancient village in Hanoi, Phuoc Tich ancient village in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue and Dong Hoa Hiep in the Mekong delta province of Tien Giang.
The seminar was jointly held by VNAT and the Hanoi People’s Committee on the occasion of the Thang Long-Hanoi International Tourism Festival, to mark the capital city’s millennium.