Ancestor worshiping ceremony of the Lo Lo ethnic group

The Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy until 2020 intends to develop typical tourist products for each locality and region in close connection with traditional festivals. The sector has worked out master plans for promoting traditional festivals. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien said: “It’s necessary to improve the organization and management of festivals to promote their traditional value. We need to maintain festivals that are appropriate to the culture, morality, integration, and development of mankind.”

Vietnam has a rich and diverse culture with 54 ethnic groups whose festivals include cultural, religious, village, and craft festivals. Each one has a great potential for becoming a tourist attraction. Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said: “We can create new products or renew old products to make our array of tourist products more attractive. We need to invest in, promote, and establish trademarks to make our tourist products more professional.”

Promoting traditional festivals as tourist products will help ensure sustainable growth for the tourism sector and increase the sector’s competitiveness. It will also help preserve Vietnam’s traditional cultural values.