Thua Thien Hue is a land that has all the necessary elements and advantages for the development of wellness tourism (WT). For this type of tourism to develop and attract customers, the construction and promotion of the WT brand needs to be implemented in a systematic and in-depth way.
Introducing information about wellness tourism products
To let customers know
After nearly 3 days of experiencing many activities during the Wellness Tourism Weekend (held on December 15th-17th), Mr. Chau Thanh Dat, a tourist from Phu Yen, had a different perspective on this type of tourism in Hue. Mr. Dat said: "For a long time when I went to Hue, the purpose of the trips was only for traveling or going to see a doctor if I was sick. If Hue combines tourism well with WT, it will be a good option for tourists like us."
The Wellness Tourism Weekend with a series of activities to introduce products related to health such as nutritious food, meditation, and tea; spa services and health check-ups and counseling in traditional and modern forms, etc., has brought to local people and tourists a lot of information about WT. For a long time, there have been a considerable number of tourists who have come to Hue but have not known that Hue has advantages and potential to serve tourists about WT.
In Thua Thien Hue, there are not only natural landscapes, and cultural history that attract researchers and tourists from all over the world, but the ancient capital of Vietnam is also a land with a long tradition of both Oriental and Occidental medicine with a strong medical workforce in terms of both quantity and quality. This is an advantage for Thua Thien Hue to promote the development of the tourism type of resort combined with health checking and treatment - the Wellness Tourism.
WT is a type of tourism that aims to improve and balance all the main areas of human life, including physical, mental, emotional, occupational, intellectual, and spiritual. The main motivation for WT tourists is to participate in activities such as prevention, proactiveness, and lifestyle improvement such as exercise, healthy eating, relaxation, care and treatment.
WT services for tourists often include beautifying and anti-aging; healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss; mental and physical health; healthcare tourism; disease prevention; spa; hot springs, etc. All of these are the prominent points of Thua Thien Hue’s tourism industry.
Provincial leaders visit the display space and introduce health care products.
According to the leadership of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, Hue has many hot springs, including some that have been exploited to form resorts serving health and tourism.
In addition, Thua Thien Hue also has a system of high-class resorts and hotels built in peaceful spaces along the slopes, along the banks of the Perfume River or stretching along the beaches, easily blending in with nature and suitable for exploiting resort tourism, health care, treatment. These resources have become a strength for developing wellness tourism, attracting domestic and foreign tourists.
In fact, after 2 years of the COVID-19 outbreak, the tourism industry is undergoing a shift, focusing more on the development of the tourism form combined with WT. However, to promote the advantages and effectively exploit the tourism industry, the story of building and promoting the WT brand needs to be implemented in a systematic and in-depth manner.
Focusing on promotion and product development
Looking at the tourism picture, especially in the past 2 years, many studies and practices have proven that the disease has changed the needs of international, domestic, and even intra-provincial tourists. With the trend that tourists pay more and more attention to WT, many destinations and resorts have proactively exploited many new services, focusing on the "Wellness" package (health care).
Tourism is a service industry and to develop it, it is impossible not to care about the story of promotion. On the contrary, there must be a regular, systematic, and profound way of doing things to let people from all over the world know about the strengths and types of WT of Hue.
Representatives of some businesses believe that the province needs to improve the mechanism, have policies to serve the purpose of improving public health and attracting tourists, and have a specific direction and planning for each different period with clear goals in the development of WT products to ensure the effective, long-term, and sustainable nature.
To diversify product packages, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Health, and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment need to have orientations to build and evaluate healthcare tourism products, continue to connect with travel businesses, medical facilities, and accommodation facilities to create high-quality medical tourism product packages to meet the needs of domestic and foreign tourists. On the other hand, from a business perspective, their products need more connections between travel companies and units providing medical examination, treatment, therapy, spas, massage... to create tourism programs, methodical care, examination, and methodical treatment.
Story and photos: Huu Phuc