Ba Ria - Vung Tau attracts visitors with unique cultural and tourism festivals

Attracting customers in low season

Present at the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Tourism Week, Mr. Nguyen Sy Giap, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said: "I was very surprised and impressed with the culinary festival tourism product during the low season. The impressive thing is that this week there are many regional culinary stalls for sale, the festival atmosphere is also very joyful with special art programs. In particular, for the first time, my son and I enjoyed paragliding performances right on the beach, this is also a quite new and attractive tourist sport activity."

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Lan, Director of Hai Lan Company Limited, a business specializing in producing handicrafts typical of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, through festival, tourism and cultural activities, local handicraft products have reached the hands of tourists. These are products that are very popular with foreign visitors because they are typical of the locality, crafted and produced by local people...

Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien, Deputy Director of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Department of Tourism, said that September, October and November are the low tourist season of the province, although the weather and natural landscapes at this time of the year are also very beautiful. To overcome the limitations and change travel habits during this period, the province organized the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Tourism Week event last November to attract tourists to participate.

"In addition to the festival, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province also builds many unique tourism products to attract visitors, including cultural events of international influence, which the province organizes annually with a higher quantity and quality each year than the previous year. It can be seen that in 2023, the province reached 13 million visitors, higher than the set target of 12 million visitors. It is expected that the province will welcome 14 - 15 million visitors throughout the year," Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien added.

Keep visitors staying the longest

Mr. Bui Minh Phuc, Deputy Director of Sammy Vung Tau Hotel, said that through culinary festivals and tourism events, businesses have had more opportunities to introduce and promote quality products, hotels and restaurants to domestic and foreign tourists. It can be seen that in recent times, the average room occupancy rate of coastal accommodation establishments in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has been quite low, only about 40 - 50%. However, when the province organizes events and festivals such as: Vung Tau Coastal Food Festival (August); Ba Ria - Vung Tau Tourism Week 2023 (November) ... the occupancy rate of the rooms has reached 70 - 80%, some hotels even reached over 90%. This shows that in order to attract and retain guests for longer stays in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the province needs to have many quality activities and events of a macro scale. Only then will tourism businesses have additional revenue and increase economic contributions to the entire province.

From a management perspective, Mr. Le Ngoc Khanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, said that the province is always interested in renewing festivals and events with local characteristics. However, to elevate the level of festivals, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has cooperated with neighboring provinces, most recently Ho Chi Minh City, to make cultural and tourism events more diverse, rich and outstanding, such as the Nghinh Ong Festival (from the 16th to the 18th of the 8th lunar month); Dinh Co Festival (from the 10th to the 12th of the 2nd lunar month); Vung Tau Coastal Food Festival (August); Ba Ria - Vung Tau Tourism Week 2023 (November)...

According to Mr. Le Ngoc Khanh, to promote and introduce these products, the province has focused on promoting communication. Specifically, the province has assigned the Department of Tourism to develop monthly and quarterly festival and tourism event programs, renew existing tourism products, upgrade new tourism products on a large scale, and improve the quality of the tourism team...

"In the past, visitors to Ba Ria - Vung Tau often stayed for only 1-2 days, and their spending on tourism was also low. Therefore, all of the above solutions of the province aim to change the thinking and habits of tourists when coming to Ba Ria - Vung Tau and keep tourists staying as long as possible, only then can the province's tourism industry develop sustainably and long-term," Mr. Le Ngoc Khanh added.