Current Status of Tourism Activities at Cultural Relics in Nam Dinh City and Neighboring Areas.

Business people, cultural workers, students, and retired officials make up a large number because they have a lot of free time.

Reality shows that the tourist market has expanded, tourists coming to Nam Dinh are of all ages, occupations, and levels. The exploitation of cultural heritage values for tourism development has enhanced the attractiveness and appeal to tourists. And the feelings and evaluations of tourists are important conditions contributing to the restoration and development of a culture imbued with national identity.

Table: Data on tourists' perceptions of the attractiveness of tourist destinations in Nam Dinh City and vicinity.

Attractiveness

Tourists (%)

Very attractive	Attractive	Normal	Not attractive
Inland		40	40	10	10
International	France	30	60	10	0
	Older brother	20	40	30	10
	China and Japan	20	50	20	10

Maybe you are interested!

In 100% of domestic tourist surveys, 85% of tourists are interested in historical and cultural values, religious and belief architectures that mark the country's history, in addition to the landscape in harmony with nature. Most tourists come here with the desire to learn about history, remember their roots, show respect and gratitude to their ancestors and national heroes, and participate in traditional festivals related to religious ceremonies. Therefore, the number of tourists coming to festivals in Nam Dinh always accounts for 65% of the tourist structure.

In the survey of international tourists. For international visitors from European countries, mainly French and British visitors, they come here with the desire to learn more about the country and people, about the cultural values imbued with the national identity of Vietnam. They are very interested in architectural works designed and built by their architects such as museums, theaters, churches, etc. Not only in Nam Dinh but also in other cities in the North, there are still some French-style planning and architectural works. If in Hanoi there is a grand theater, Hai Phong has a flower shop and every street in Hai Phong is small - "Small alley, small street, my house is there", ... then Nam Dinh has a covered bridge and rows of old French houses.

Asian tourists such as Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans are interested in the traditional cultural and historical values of relics in Nam Dinh such as temples and pagodas because they want to visit similar cultural and religious features, mutual influences in the history of the region, and learn and explore the differences between Vietnamese architectural and artistic works and those of their country.

Thus, tourism has great cultural significance, tourists from other countries will bring their local customs to exchange, the locality helps tourists understand new cultural elements. In general, international tourists have a friendly feeling towards the destinations, they feel safe due to stable security which helps their trip to be smooth, they can truly rest and relax.

* Evaluate historical and cultural relics at tourist attractions in Nam Dinh city and neighboring districts through scoring.

Based on the scale of assessing the attractiveness of human tourism resources, the historical and cultural relics here have outstanding appeal to attract domestic and international tourists to visit and learn.

1. Favorable geographical location: 4 x 2 = 8 points.

2. History of formation and development over 500 years: 4 x2 = 8 points.

3. Has beautiful scenery, large scale, combines many valuable resources: 4 x 3 = 12 points.

4. The interior of the construction items is well preserved and protected: 4 x 3 = 12 points.

5. Has unique architectural value: 4 x 3 = 12 points

6. The organization of restoration, protection and exploitation is well carried out: 4 x 2 = 8 points.

7. Associated with unique cultural values: 4 x 2 = 8 points.

8. Good quality natural and human environment: 4 x 2 = 8 points.

9. Advertising: 2 x 2 = 4 points.

10. Nationally ranked relics: 3 x 2 = 6 points.

Total: 86/100 points.

Thus, along with the comments and assessments of the attractiveness of historical and cultural relics in Nam Dinh to tourists in the above important basic factors, all scored well, the historical and cultural relics here converge quite fully the elements of an attractive destination, thereby seeing the attractiveness of historical and cultural relics in Nam Dinh is both comprehensive and characteristic, but in exploitation activities and tourism human resources are still limited. In order to exploit and promote more effectively the cultural values towards the goal of tourism development, the overall planning of environmental resources, investment in conservation, restoration of historical relics, scenic spots, as well as tourism resources in general are the key issues of Nam Dinh tourism, contributing to raising the image and position of Nam Dinh to a new level.

2.4. Current status of tourism activities at cultural relics in Nam Dinh inner city and neighboring areas.

2.4.1. Current status of organization, management and exploitation of historical and cultural relics in Nam Dinh city and neighboring districts.

Exploiting local historical and cultural relics in tourism activities is a common phenomenon in the world. However, linking historical and cultural relics with tourism exploitation is not an easy task to succeed.

In recent years, most of Nam Dinh's tourism development potentials have remained dormant, or even if there has been investment in exploitation, it has only been at the surface level, initially exploiting what is available. The linkage in exploiting and building tourism routes connecting cultural heritages and scenic spots has not really been focused on.

Associated with the historical and cultural relics in Nam Dinh is a treasure trove of intangible cultural heritage, with about 100 traditional festivals. Festivals are a type of comprehensive cultural activity that is extremely diverse and rich in the spiritual and cultural life of each community. Tourists coming to Nam Dinh not only visit the relics but also participate in the festivals. In general, the exploitation of tourism activities during the festivals here in recent years has been promoted. Tourists come to the Vieng market festival, Phu Giay festival and Tran temple's Opening Seal festival every spring. The organization of Phu Giay festival, Vieng market, ... has contributed to preserving and promoting the unique cultural and spiritual values of the country and homeland while meeting the cultural, religious and sightseeing needs of local people and a large number of tourists from all over the world.

In fact, tourists come here only to look, watch and worship, but they almost do not understand the origin of the festival, of the rituals performed here. A common problem of festivals in our country is that the "ceremony" part is as elaborate as the "festival" part is, the folk entertainment activities are limited to only a few activities such as: communal house dancing, singing, and human chess. Because the festival part is not particularly special, most tourists only come to worship, so the festival can only attract tourists for a maximum of one day, with a short stay. Therefore, the services used are not many, and the revenue is low. For example, in 2008, Nam Dinh welcomed more than 1.4 million visitors.

number of tourists but revenue only reached 110 billion VND. Apart from festivals, the exploitation of relics for tourism activities is still spontaneous, small-scale, and not very effective, causing waste of resources.

In addition, the relics are currently under a lot of pressure from commercial business activities and tourism services. The management and exploitation of tourism at historical relics still have many shortcomings, the situation of encroachment and encroachment on relics still occurs, ensuring the safety of tourists is still not thorough, such as the situation of beggars, street children begging for money from visitors; the situation of using the relic site, temple gate for business, street vending, soliciting visitors still occurs, spoiling the beauty, causing trouble, creating a bad impression for visitors, especially foreign visitors because this is a sacred, inviolable place but in reality it is completely different.

The relics have been exposed to the harsh climate, long-term sun and rain, and termite damage, causing some relics to deteriorate. Furthermore, tourism activities take place massively, with too many tourists concentrated during peak season, overloading the capacity, causing the surrounding environment to be encroached upon and degraded. The phenomenon of breaking trees and branches, littering indiscriminately causes environmental pollution, destroying the airy landscape of the relics.

Although some relics have been upgraded and restored, they have been heavily reinforced with concrete, losing the inherent architectural value of the relics. This affects the service of sustainable tourism development. Generations of tourists cannot properly admire and enhance their awareness of the true meaning of the relics.

At historical sites, the team of tour guides and interpreters fluent in foreign languages have difficulty introducing what international visitors want to know.

2.4.2. Current status of management and restoration of historical and cultural relics at tourist attractions in Nam Dinh city and neighboring areas.

Historical relics and scenic spots are an important component of Vietnam's cultural heritage. In recent years, with the attention and direction of the Provincial Party Committee, the investment of the Provincial People's Committee, the coordination of management at all levels, sectors and local authorities, the exploitation and promotion of cultural values at Nam Dinh historical relics have been improved. Every year, festivals associated with the relics are carefully organized, creating excitement among the people, attracting more and more tourists to visit.

However, the problem is that a destination must be attractive and develop sustainably. This requires unique tourism resources and cultural heritage with its own characteristics, but also depends on the management, conservation, restoration and renovation of local relics.

Over the years, along with the dust of time, historical and cultural relics have been damaged by nature. Although in recent years, Nam Dinh has invested hundreds of billions of VND in tourism development, in reality, most of it has been invested in transport infrastructure, and partly in the construction of accommodation facilities. Therefore, the management, restoration, and conservation of relics have not been focused on. Due to limited financial support from the State, lax management in some localities, and the lack of staff for specialized staff at relic sites, there have been shortcomings in the management of restoration. Restoration activities are not carried out in accordance with instructions or without consulting with specialized departments, and there is a lack of consensus in choosing methods and replacement materials in restoration, so in many cases the original relics have been destroyed. The illegal trade of antiquities, arbitrary construction or restoration, and commercialization of festivals have destroyed the real value of cultural heritage. The preservation of precious and valuable artifacts at relics still lacks professionalism and propaganda.

Besides, the education of cultural heritage protection awareness in residential communities, schools and people living near relic sites is not given due attention. Many relic sites are encroached and become habitats for

Activities and trade cause the landscape architecture of the relics to be distorted, making tourists feel bored and disappointed. In the current modernized lifestyle, the development of tourism to the source has an important meaning in promoting historical relics into places to educate traditions for the younger generations. However, if we only know how to exploit them thoroughly without paying attention to protecting, embellishing and reviving the cultural features and historical and cultural values, it is impossible to create attraction, attract tourists, and meet the cultural and cognitive needs of tourists.

2.4.3. Current status of tourists.

Nam Dinh tourism attracts visitors not only with resorts and famous historical and cultural relics but also with large-scale festivals held annually, a form of spiritual and cultural activities imbued with the traditional morality of "remembering the source of water when drinking".

Outside of the festival season, tourists visit historical and cultural sites in Nam Dinh for sightseeing and worship. Tourists visiting Nam Dinh for historical sites include official groups, student groups, retired officials, etc. Official groups with high spending power combine sightseeing and worshiping sites during their trip. Student groups are not often numerous, they mainly come to visit, learn about the history of the sites, and raise awareness.

During the Tran Temple festival season, Phu Giay festival attracts a large number of people, domestic and international tourists. They often go in large groups, with the purpose of sightseeing and participating in the festival. Most tourists think that the festivals taking place at historical and cultural relics in Nam Dinh are very attractive and large-scale. During the festival season, the relics are overloaded due to the large number of visitors. In recent years, the number of tourists traveling in groups has increased, with a variety of visitors due to the development trend of spiritual cultural tourism and tourism to the source.

Most domestic and foreign tourists feel that the historical and cultural relics in Nam Dinh are attractive tourist destinations. However, most foreign tourists such as British, French, Japanese, etc. feel unsafe when participating in traffic here, besides, many tourists feel uncomfortable when being solicited and invited by sellers.

2.4.4. Socio-economic efficiency from tourism activities at historical and cultural relics.

When exploited for tourism purposes, tourism resources bring a certain source of revenue to the tourism industry in general and the local community. This revenue comes from selling sightseeing tickets, tickets for entertainment services, from selling souvenirs or local specialties, etc.

Nam Dinh is truly a place with great potential for developing cultural tourism, which is attractive to tourists. In general, the socio-economic efficiency of Nam Dinh's tourism activities is not commensurate with the development potential of the region, but it has contributed to economic growth and job creation for the local community.

Because it has not been exploited deeply and created many tourism products, Nam Dinh has not been able to “retain” and “make money” from tourists. Because tourists come to visit a historical and cultural relic not only to look at the relic but also want to learn about the historical significance, the formation process, and choose to buy souvenirs of that relic.

Due to the lack of human resources for tourism development, the local tourism products are monotonous and not unique, so they cannot meet the needs of tourists. Tourists simply come to visit and sightsee, shopping and using services are limited. The majority of revenue from tourism activities in Nam Dinh mainly comes from accommodation and food services. In 2009, revenue of tourism businesses increased by 20% compared to the same period in 2008.

Comment