The meeting with Do Van Dan ran behind schedule by more than a week due to his schedule bursting with appointments and business trips. The 42-year-old Chairman of Elegance Hospitality Group (EHG) has to fly back and forth between Hanoi and Hoi An of Quang Nam province constantly during December of 2017. Even EHG’s hotels were overwhelmed with bookings and operation plan sketches during the first last weeks of 2017.
With five boutique hotels in Hanoi and one resort in Hoi An, room bookings totaling at 106,105—and 96,500 for tourists staying for longer than a single day—jumped beyond EHG’s initial expectations for the year of 2017. “Our business in 2017 has been really good,” said Dan. "The picture is far different from when we opened our first small hotel nearly two decades ago. Consistency and good quality at the time were not the priorities of most hotel owners in Hanoi, but EHG already had a vision in mind,” said Dan.
Luxury Travel’s tale runs along similar tracks: a long-standing tourism firm in Hanoi that witnessed a year of breakthrough. In 2017, Luxury Travel’s revenue skyrocketed by 30% compared to 2016, according to the company’s annual report. “These were the best results we got in the past 13 years,” enthused Pham Ha, the firm’s CEO, who used to be an English teacher before joining the tourism sector 20 years ago.
The good performance of EHG and Luxury Travel are mere pieces in the mosaic of Hanoi’s tourism picture in 2017. The city welcomed 23.8 million arrivals, up 9% on-year and surpassing the 1% target. This included 4.9 million foreign arrivals, marking a year-on-year increase of 23% and surpassing the set target of 15%, a report by the Hanoi Department of Tourism found. The capital’s tourism revenue reached over VND70 trillion (US$3 billion), up 15% against the previous year.
Nevertheless, these encouraging figures are not only due to industrious travel enterprises, but also of Hanoi’s tourism authorities, as the city is taking new measures to turn tourism into a spearhead economic sector.
Booming investment and innovation
Evidently enough, changes seen in Hanoi’s tourism scene can mostly be attributed to the booming investment in infrastructure. Hanoi, one of the two international arrival spots, is an obligatory passage point for tourists going to visit Halong Bay, Sapa or other Northern Vietnamese destinations.
“The city is ready to welcome tourists with good airport infrastructure after recently inaugurating the second terminal in January 2015,” said Ha from Luxury Travel.
So far, the city has invested in 20 four- and five-star hotels to meet the increasing demand for accommodation. Other ongoing facilitation projects include a cultural, tourism, and amusement park, and a national exhibition center in Dong Anh District, as well as a sports park in Quoc Oai District. These will be ready to serve travelers in the upcoming years.
City officials have put much effort into developing novel tourism products. Must-see sites in Hanoi like the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, the Old Quarter, and the Temple of Literature are in the spotlight for innovative tourism products.
Tran Duc Hai, Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, said that traditional tourist attractions such as the iconic network of lakes and the craft village system were fully exploited peak during the past years. “While Hanoi’s Old Quarter and the Temple of Literature host art performances, an automatic guiding system for smart phone users is expected to be launched soon in order to support visitors of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long,” Hai said.
Firms in the tourism sector have also benefited from Hanoi’s new strategy to lure in travelers by connecting the city’s main tourist attractions. “As you can see, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long has been connected with Ba Dinh Square, while the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Ho Chi Minh Museum, and the Temple of Literature form a complex of places of interest, which helps foreign tourists in planning their tours,” Dan from EHG shared. The birth of Hanoi’s pedestrian zone is also part of this strategy, he said.
Hanoi turning heads around the world
Ha cites Hanoi’s strategy to promote its image as a stepping stone for his firm’s success in 2017. “Nowadays, videos depicting the beauty of Vietnam are featured on CNN Travel, Matador Network, Unilad, Lonely Planet, and the Vietnam Tourism Facebook page as well—and an incredible number of people like and share them all over the world,” the CEO said.
Five or six years ago it was quite rare to find a tourism ad of Hanoi in international media channels.
Now billions of potential tourists in the world can, for example, marvel at a hot cup of egg coffee—a Hanoi specialty—via CNN’s articles or catch a glimpse of the spider-web-like alleys of the city through video clips that leave them wanting more. These ads were created through the US$2 million promotion program signed between Hanoi and the cable news network during 2017-2018.
Coming to Hanoi’s hidden gems, Sunita Rajan, Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, Asia Pacific, CNN International Commercial, believes they will stun viewers across the globe.
“This 1000-year-old city has cuisine that cannot be found anywhere else in the world,” Rajan told Hanoitimes when CNN signed up for the campaign in 2016.
The program has proven to be highly effective in spreading images of the city across the rest of the world after only one year on air. “Feedback from an independent third-party survey by the UK’s largest research consultancy, BDRC Continental, showed that the majority of respondents developed an interest in Hanoi and wanted to visit the city after watching some of CNN’s shows such as #MYHANOI and Hanoi POV,” affirmed Rajan.
Accordingly, nearly 93% of respondents agreed that the ad showed them that Hanoi has many interesting sites and places, while 92% were impressed with the tourism activities available in the city and were reinforced in the belief that the city is a worthy holiday destination. The figures state that respondents who regularly watched CNN’s coverage would be more likely to travel to Hanoi than non-regular audience (17% vs. 11%).
Shaking hands with CNN in 2017 was a monumental achievement for Hanoi’s tourism sector, as this was the first time the city made it to a worldwide audience, paving the way for more ambitious promotion plans in the future. “As part of the 2018 campaign on CNN, we will screen Destination Hanoi sometime around mid-year. This is a special program focusing on the more interesting facets of the city and places to discover,” leaked Rajan.
Nguyen Duc Chung, the Mayor of Hanoi and the author of the initiative with CNN, affirmed that it would not only promote the image of the city, but also the country to the world. Hence, in the long term, Hanoi and the US-based cable news network are expected to ink a deal on further plans in 2019-2020 after a meeting in January 2018.
Plans for 2018
Beside the continuing partnership with CNN, Hanoi officials mentioned other plans to spread the city’s image in the world. Specifically, the capital is looking to shake hands with international organizations to expand tourism markets, both key and new ones, such as the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Southeast and Northeast Asian countries, India, Australia, and New Zealand, said Hai when asked about the city’s plans for 2018.
Hanoi is currently an active member of the Council for Promotion of Tourism in Asia (CPAT) and the Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO), Hai added. “The Tourism Department will strengthen the presence of Famtrip, where foreign businesses and press reporters search for tourism products to promote tourism in Hanoi and attract investment,” said the Head of the Department.
The city is expected to welcome 5.5 million foreign arrivals in 2018, up 11% against 2017, cited the Hanoi Department of Tourism's report. This is undoubtedly an ambitious target. As such, based on the city’s leap in tourism this year and upcoming plans, travel firms like EHG and Luxury Travel have plenty of reasons to dream big. “What I wish is for the upcoming plan to explore new territories such as the Red River area and promote peaceful places such as Xuan Thuy National Park for a more sustainable, close-to-nature kind of tourism,” Ha of Luxury Travel told Hanoitimes.
Similarly, Dan, EHG’s COO, affirmed that the company would expand its scale of operations both in the domestic and international markets.
Foreign travelers wander around Hanoi's Temple of Literature. Photo: Ho Ha
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Luxury Travel’s tale runs along similar tracks: a long-standing tourism firm in Hanoi that witnessed a year of breakthrough. In 2017, Luxury Travel’s revenue skyrocketed by 30% compared to 2016, according to the company’s annual report. “These were the best results we got in the past 13 years,” enthused Pham Ha, the firm’s CEO, who used to be an English teacher before joining the tourism sector 20 years ago.
The good performance of EHG and Luxury Travel are mere pieces in the mosaic of Hanoi’s tourism picture in 2017. The city welcomed 23.8 million arrivals, up 9% on-year and surpassing the 1% target. This included 4.9 million foreign arrivals, marking a year-on-year increase of 23% and surpassing the set target of 15%, a report by the Hanoi Department of Tourism found. The capital’s tourism revenue reached over VND70 trillion (US$3 billion), up 15% against the previous year.
Nevertheless, these encouraging figures are not only due to industrious travel enterprises, but also of Hanoi’s tourism authorities, as the city is taking new measures to turn tourism into a spearhead economic sector.
Booming investment and innovation
Evidently enough, changes seen in Hanoi’s tourism scene can mostly be attributed to the booming investment in infrastructure. Hanoi, one of the two international arrival spots, is an obligatory passage point for tourists going to visit Halong Bay, Sapa or other Northern Vietnamese destinations.
“The city is ready to welcome tourists with good airport infrastructure after recently inaugurating the second terminal in January 2015,” said Ha from Luxury Travel.
Foreign tourists in Hang Ma Street, Hanoi. Photo: Duc Anh
|
City officials have put much effort into developing novel tourism products. Must-see sites in Hanoi like the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, the Old Quarter, and the Temple of Literature are in the spotlight for innovative tourism products.
Tran Duc Hai, Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, said that traditional tourist attractions such as the iconic network of lakes and the craft village system were fully exploited peak during the past years. “While Hanoi’s Old Quarter and the Temple of Literature host art performances, an automatic guiding system for smart phone users is expected to be launched soon in order to support visitors of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long,” Hai said.
Firms in the tourism sector have also benefited from Hanoi’s new strategy to lure in travelers by connecting the city’s main tourist attractions. “As you can see, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long has been connected with Ba Dinh Square, while the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Ho Chi Minh Museum, and the Temple of Literature form a complex of places of interest, which helps foreign tourists in planning their tours,” Dan from EHG shared. The birth of Hanoi’s pedestrian zone is also part of this strategy, he said.
Hanoi turning heads around the world
Ha cites Hanoi’s strategy to promote its image as a stepping stone for his firm’s success in 2017. “Nowadays, videos depicting the beauty of Vietnam are featured on CNN Travel, Matador Network, Unilad, Lonely Planet, and the Vietnam Tourism Facebook page as well—and an incredible number of people like and share them all over the world,” the CEO said.
Five or six years ago it was quite rare to find a tourism ad of Hanoi in international media channels.
Now billions of potential tourists in the world can, for example, marvel at a hot cup of egg coffee—a Hanoi specialty—via CNN’s articles or catch a glimpse of the spider-web-like alleys of the city through video clips that leave them wanting more. These ads were created through the US$2 million promotion program signed between Hanoi and the cable news network during 2017-2018.
Trailer of the show #MYHANOI.
|
Coming to Hanoi’s hidden gems, Sunita Rajan, Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, Asia Pacific, CNN International Commercial, believes they will stun viewers across the globe.
“This 1000-year-old city has cuisine that cannot be found anywhere else in the world,” Rajan told Hanoitimes when CNN signed up for the campaign in 2016.
The program has proven to be highly effective in spreading images of the city across the rest of the world after only one year on air. “Feedback from an independent third-party survey by the UK’s largest research consultancy, BDRC Continental, showed that the majority of respondents developed an interest in Hanoi and wanted to visit the city after watching some of CNN’s shows such as #MYHANOI and Hanoi POV,” affirmed Rajan.
Accordingly, nearly 93% of respondents agreed that the ad showed them that Hanoi has many interesting sites and places, while 92% were impressed with the tourism activities available in the city and were reinforced in the belief that the city is a worthy holiday destination. The figures state that respondents who regularly watched CNN’s coverage would be more likely to travel to Hanoi than non-regular audience (17% vs. 11%).
Shaking hands with CNN in 2017 was a monumental achievement for Hanoi’s tourism sector, as this was the first time the city made it to a worldwide audience, paving the way for more ambitious promotion plans in the future. “As part of the 2018 campaign on CNN, we will screen Destination Hanoi sometime around mid-year. This is a special program focusing on the more interesting facets of the city and places to discover,” leaked Rajan.
Nguyen Duc Chung, the Mayor of Hanoi and the author of the initiative with CNN, affirmed that it would not only promote the image of the city, but also the country to the world. Hence, in the long term, Hanoi and the US-based cable news network are expected to ink a deal on further plans in 2019-2020 after a meeting in January 2018.
Plans for 2018
Beside the continuing partnership with CNN, Hanoi officials mentioned other plans to spread the city’s image in the world. Specifically, the capital is looking to shake hands with international organizations to expand tourism markets, both key and new ones, such as the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Southeast and Northeast Asian countries, India, Australia, and New Zealand, said Hai when asked about the city’s plans for 2018.
Hanoi is currently an active member of the Council for Promotion of Tourism in Asia (CPAT) and the Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO), Hai added. “The Tourism Department will strengthen the presence of Famtrip, where foreign businesses and press reporters search for tourism products to promote tourism in Hanoi and attract investment,” said the Head of the Department.
A glimpse of La Siesta Hotel (EHG) in Lo Su Street, Hanoi.
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Similarly, Dan, EHG’s COO, affirmed that the company would expand its scale of operations both in the domestic and international markets.
