According to Dr. Mai Minh Nhat, Vice Principal of Dalat University, thanks to the cultural industry, the value and image of the beauty of the locality and people are spread, bringing benefits and through that, cultural heritage also becomes a driving force. Currently, Da Lat is most prominent for its performing arts, cuisine, music, and architecture. This is the highlight of the cultural heritage that Da Lat needs to preserve, develop tourism, and improve the lives of its people while positioning the name of Da Lat tourism on the world tourism map.

Da Lat City centre (Photo: Lam Dong Online)

The new values ​​of green tourism development and the cultural industry have been studied by many international organizations. In particular, developing the cultural industry helps restructure the growth model, create highly competitive cultural products and services, create more new jobs, and make positive contributions to the economy; developing green tourism helps minimize environmental impacts, positively contribute to biodiversity protection, use renewable energy, promote natural and cultural heritage, and develop environmentally friendly tourism products. These values ​​have been increasingly approached and developed by the tourism community.

According to Mr. Dang Quang Tu, from multidimensional perspectives, multidisciplinary approaches, documents and scientific arguments discussed, the workshop will analyze and propose solutions to build Da Lat into a typical model of green growth and sustainable development through tourism and service development in harmony with preserving and promoting local ethnic cultural identity.

Speaking at the conference, Dr. Jackie Ong - Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality Management, RMIT University Vietnam, commented that the cultural industry is playing an increasingly important role in the global economy.

In the Southeast Asian region, Dr. Ong cited examples of three countries, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, that have been successful in developing green tourism associated with traditional culture combined with modern elements. While Singapore is a model of modernity and technology, Thailand combines tradition with a new lifestyle; Malaysia takes advantage of cultural and natural diversity, connecting the international community through major international events. Three countries, three different strategies, but all aim for the common goal of sustainable development and promoting cultural identity.

According to Dr. Mai Minh Nhat, Vice Principal of Dalat University, thanks to the cultural industry, the value and image of the beauty of the locality and people are spread, bringing benefits and through that, cultural heritage also becomes a driving force. Currently, Da Lat is most prominent for its performing arts, cuisine, music, and architecture. This is the highlight of the cultural heritage that Da Lat needs to preserve, develop tourism, and improve the lives of its people while positioning the name of Da Lat tourism on the world tourism map.

Da Lat is famous as a Flower Festival city (Photo: Lam Dong Online)

Mr. Do Quoc Thong, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, stated that to develop Da Lat tourism, it is necessary to cooperate with many other localities to grow and develop tourism together, such as Ho Chi Minh City - Phan Thiet - Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang - Da Lat... so that a tourist route passes through many heritage destinations while promoting cultural and historical values, and creating attractive tourism products.

With the number of international visitors to Da Lat showing signs of growth, the city needs to focus on segmenting the international tourism market by region and customer group. Clearly defining the segment will help Da Lat have a suitable attraction strategy and effectively exploit potential visitor sources.

Sharing about the operation and development of the creative music city, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Huong, Head of the Cultural Department of the UNESCO Vietnam Office, said that creative cultural festivals are a key activity of the creative city program. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network aims to put culture and creativity at the heart of sustainable development, promoting international cooperation and the sustainable development of cultural values. The network currently includes 350 cities, including 7 creative cultural sectors, including music.

In addition, the way the network operates has created opportunities to promote international cooperation and enhance the position of cities through cooperative activities. For UNESCO, festivals are a tool to shape cultural identity and cities need to organise festivals as a platform to honor heritage, connect communities and then attract tourists.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Director of the Center for Development of Contemporary Cultural and Artistic Industries, emphasized that if we are not careful in developing cultural and creative industries, there is a risk that music and creative products in Da Lat will only follow the demands and desires of tourists.

"This is a golden time for Da Lat, partners and experts to build a specific program, vision and approach in which music and art culture serve people and aim for sustainable development as overarching goals. From the openness in the policy on public-private cooperation, Da Lat also needs to create a mechanism for experts and businesses to operate in the city, in parallel with requiring partners to meet the purpose of serving people and Da Lat," affirmed Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha.

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