General Assessment of Factors Affecting Tourism Development in Vientiane City

Elephants are gentle and hospitable. That Luang Festival takes place on the days close to the full moon of the 12th lunar month of the Buddhist calendar, lasts a week and ends on the full moon day of the month, which is today (November 25).

One of the main activities of the That Luang Festival is the procession of the stupa (called He Pha Sat Phong in Lao) from the Mother Xi Muong Pagoda to That Luang. Pha Sat Phong is a model of a temple made of Styrofoam, surrounded by bright yellow beeswax flowers. On the top are 9 white lotus flowers, and around the stupa are tassels made of flowers or hell money.

Upon arriving at That Luang, the procession will carry the Pha Sat Phong around That Luang three times before stopping at the back hall to offer offerings and the monk will receive the offerings in a solemn, serious, and respectful manner. According to custom, each family, village, or group of people… can worship a Pha Sat Phong together.

On the morning of December 15th, according to the Buddhist calendar, people come to pay homage to monks called Tac Bat in Lao. Thousands of monks from all over Laos will flock to That Luang, setting up tables and sitting along both sides of the road for Buddhists from all over to come and offer money, candy, sticky rice, etc. People line up in order to pay homage to the monks. People from all over flock to That Luang, those who arrive later spread mats or newspapers in the large square outside the That Luang grounds and place their offerings in front of them, praying respectfully.

Bunpimay traditional festival or Water Festival

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It takes place from April 13 to 16 every year. On the first day of Lao New Year, people clean their houses, prepare scented water and flowers, and go to the temple. First, they sprinkle water on the Buddha statues, then they splash water on the monks, the temple and the trees around the temple, and then on the people around them. They not only splash water on people but also on houses, offerings, animals and production tools. Lao people believe that water will help wash away evil, diseases.

and wish for a long, clean and healthy new year. Whoever gets wet the most is the happiest. In addition, during these days people also tie colorful threads around each other's wrists to wish each other luck.

Nowadays, traditional festivals tend to recover and develop again. Almost all localities in the province organize traditional cultural festivals. Many festivals have historical and cultural significance, have a positive effect in educating patriotic traditions and restoring and developing the beauty of traditional cultural activities. Therefore, festivals have great attraction for people and tourists everywhere, especially international tourists.

Therefore, it is necessary to conduct research on the festival process to have a festival program, as well as invest in defining the content of the introduction about the history, characteristics, purpose, meaning... of specific festivals. That is the activity to attract tourists, and at the same time, it is also the responsibility to seriously promote national culture to tourists about the local culture.

c. Temples and pagodas

Laos is a land of pagodas, with a total of 1,400 pagodas. Therefore, this place is famous for the landscape of That Luong and Phra Keo pagoda, Ong Tu pagoda, or Buddha Garden, a complex of hundreds of statues cast according to Buddhist legends, in the Tha-Dua area, about 25 km from Vientiane, near the Laos-Thailand Friendship Bridge.

In Vientiane city there are many historical and cultural tourist attractions, many temples and cultural heritages:

 Pha That Luang or Pha That Luang: (That means the largest in Lao) is a Buddhist stupa in Vientiane, Laos. It was built in 1566 under the reign of King Setthathirat, in the shape of a wine jar, on the ruins of a 13th-century Indian temple. The exterior of the temple is gilded.

That Luang in Vientiane was built around the 16th century, on the ruins of a Khmer-style temple dating back to the 13th century. By the 19th century, the temple was heavily damaged by the Thais, but it was restored later. The architecture of the temple represents Lao culture. Today, That Luang is considered a national symbol of Laos. The architecture of the temple tower bears Lao culture and identity and has become a symbol of Laos, printed on paper money and the flag of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Currently, the temple grounds are fenced off from vehicles, but in the past visitors could drive around the temple. According to legend, the tower holds a strand of Buddha's hair and many treasures. That Luang consists of a main tower 45 meters high, surrounded by secondary towers, painted in gold.

Wat Sisaket (Sisaket Temple) is one of the oldest temples in Vientiane, built by King Aouvong in 1818. The temple contains many ancient Buddha statues of high artistic value, dating from the 16th to the 19th century. The entire temple has exactly 6,840 Buddha statues of all sizes. Notably, in the main hall and several surrounding rooms, there are many rare ancient gilded bronze statues.

 Wat Phra Keo

Visiting Phra Keo Temple, we feel like we are lost in the "world of art" because of the sculptures, carvings and rare artifacts all inlaid with gold, silver and shimmering jade.

 Wat Phra Keo is not only a place to worship Buddha statues, but it is also a museum displaying many Lao religious artworks. In Vientiane, Wat Phra Keo is the most important and famous temple after That Luang.

 Wat Si Muang

Halfway between Setthathilath and Samsenthai there is a temple that best represents the combination of Buddhist faith and Laotian primitive beliefs. There is

There are many legends associated with this temple but one thing is certain: Si Muang was the name of a pregnant woman about 300 years ago.

Wat Si Muang was built by the Lao people to worship and remember her. If you come to Vientiane, you can come here to perform the traditional Laotian ritual of tying a thread around your wrist for good luck.

 Ong Tue Pagoda

Ong Tue Pagoda is located in Mi Xay village, Chanthabuli district, about 1 km from Phra Keo pagoda. Ong Tu is the name of the statue, if translated Ong Tu means the one million ton statue.

In Vientiane city, there are also many scenic spots and temples such as: Phar Keo Pagoda, Ong Teu Mahawihan Pagoda, Si Muang Pagoda, Talat Sao (Early Market), Lao National Museum, Kayson Phomvihan Museum...

d. Cuisine

Lao cuisine is similar in style to neighboring Cambodia and Thailand: spicy, sour, and sweet. However, Lao cuisine has its own unique characteristics. In addition to freshwater fish, pork, chicken, buffalo, and duck are important ingredients in many common dishes.

 Lam Rice: is a typical rice of Lao people and some ethnic minorities in the Northwest and Central Highlands of Vietnam.

 Lap: Laotian for luck, is a traditional dish in Lao festivals and is also their closest national dish. Made from animal meat, usually beef, deer meat or maybe buffalo meat, fish. The meat is minced with chopped mint and lime juice.

 Lao sticky rice: Coming to the land of a million elephants, tourists often eat sticky rice, a traditional food of the Lao people. The people of the Lao tribe mostly live in stilt houses, built from precious wood, with wooden floors or bamboo fences. Because sticky rice is a traditional dish, every family in this country has a few places to store sticky rice, woven from bamboo.

 Tam Maak Hung: If we just name it like that, it is not enough, in addition to the dishes that can be called "popular", Tam Maak Hung is considered a Lao specialty or also known as vegetarian salad. This famous dish's ingredients include pickled cucumber, papaya, long beans,... pounded and mixed with dozens of spices, giving each diner a very strange feeling when sipping each piece, each piece...

2.1.3. Other factors

2.1.3.1. Infrastructure

Currently, Vientiane City is entering a new period, striving to carry out the task of promoting economic restructuring, focusing on developing industry, services, building infrastructure, and implementing many key national projects. Vientiane City is the capital, the cultural, commercial and administrative center of Laos, and the capital Vientiane is also the largest economic center in the country.

Infrastructure and technical facilities are gradually being improved. In 1994, the Friendship Bridge was officially inaugurated, connecting Vientiane with Nong Khai province of Thailand, opening a convenient traffic direction, creating conditions for trade and economic development of the capital Vientiane. Infrastructure serving key economic sectors such as agriculture and industry has been focused on investment and development. Vientiane has attracted and encouraged domestic and foreign investment by implementing established policies. Vientiane has expanded economic, trade and investment cooperation with countries in the region.

Vientiane is the country's banking and financial center. It is home to the State Bank of Vietnam and provides a wide range of financial services to businesses, domestic and foreign investors, and the general public.

a. Transportation

Transportation is continuing to develop continuously both road, water and air transport, especially road is developing rapidly. There is also a railway connecting the Thai - Lao border, there is a road connecting city and city, village and village making travel comfortable.

- Road

The whole city has more than 2,500 km of roads with main traffic axes and routes including: National Highway 13 North and National Highway 13 South. National Highway 13 North is the main traffic axis connecting to the northern provinces such as Vientiane, Luongphabang, Oudomxay, Luongnamtha, National Highway 13 South is the main traffic axis connecting to the southern provinces passing through Borlikamxay, Khammuon, Savannakhet, Salavan, Champasak provinces with a total length of 510 km passing through the province. There are 2 bus stations running from Vientiane city to districts in the province, surrounding provinces and 3 international bus stations: Vientiane - Vietnam such as: Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Hue, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City; Vientiane - China: Khunming, Xieng Hung; Vientiane - Thailand: Nong Khai, Bang Koc, Ou Donthani, Xieng Mai, Leuoi.

- River route

Vientiane City also has the Mekong River connecting Vientiane City - Luang Prabang - Bokeo with a length of more than 500 km, with 3 marinas to meet the needs of transportation in general and tourism activities in particular.

- Air route

Domestic airports have many routes to provinces in the country. Meanwhile, Wattay International Airport has routes such as: Vientiane - Bangkok, Vientiane - Hanoi, Vientiane - Ho Chi Minh City, Vientiane - Cambodia, Vientiane - China, Vientiane - Singapore, Vientiane - Malaysia,

Vientiane - Seoul. In general, the transportation network of Vientiane city is convenient for tourism activities within and outside the province, however, the network quality is low and many places have not invested properly. [9].

- Electrical system

The power grid system in Vientiane city is increasingly complete to meet the needs of socio-economic development in the 9 districts and cities that have had electricity.

national electricity , taken from hydroelectric power plant

Fish Grip

through the Vientiane route

Vientiane City with 115 KV high voltage line system through 22 KV - 220V low voltage line meets well the production and living needs of people .

city dwellers . In 2015, the number of eels

g su dung

crazy

is 939,494,937 Kwh,

(has value 7)

9,868,400 USD) [2].

- Water supply and drainage

The current water supply system for specialized and domestic use in Vientiane city has 4 water plants with a total capacity of 180,000 m3 / day and night, but so far only ensures about 9,500 m3 / day and night. The suburban areas only use 58% of the water compared to the population in the whole city, and there is almost no centralized water supply system. Therefore, in tourist areas, the main water supply source is local rivers and streams. The drainage and wastewater treatment system in Vientiane city does not have a drainage system in many places, the old ones have degraded, causing flooding in many areas, leading to environmental pollution.

- Communication system

The widespread and modern postal and telecommunications network has contributed to accelerating the city's socio-economic development . Along with the city 's general development in all socio-economic aspects, the postal and telecommunications network has been increasingly expanded, many new services have been put into operation, and service quality has been improved, meeting the needs of socio-economic development.

city council . According to 2015 statistics, Vientiane city has more than 465,000 telephone subscribers, accounting for 9.16% of the total number of subscribers in the country.

Vientiane City has relatively good infrastructure, especially the road traffic network and communication system, creating favorable conditions for population work, family planning, gradually narrowing the gap in economic development level and awareness of people in regions in the province.

2.1.3.2. Tourism development policy

In order to effectively implement the goals and strategies with the strength of tourism promotion and development, in recent years, the People's Committee of Vientiane City has always paid attention to and prioritized investment in tourism development, considering this an important strategic direction in the socio-economic development of the locality. Based on that viewpoint, Vientiane City has proposed positive policies and measures to develop tourism as follows: Expanding domestic and foreign investment to develop the tourism industry and develop infrastructure to support tourism services; Strengthening the management of tourism business units operating in accordance with the law; Encouraging associations, tourism associations, hotels, motels and restaurants in the market to attract more and more tourists from neighboring countries to Vientiane City; Paying attention to propagating to local people to maintain the culture, customs and unique traditions of the potential locality [5].

2.1.4. General assessment of factors affecting tourism development in Vientiane city

2.1.4.1. Advantages

Vientiane City is the economic and social center of Laos, on the tourist transit corridor of the international airport (Wattay) and the international border gate of Friendship Bridge (Vieng Chan-Nong Khai). Vientiane is a major tourist center of the Central region, with a convenient transportation system, so it has the potential to become a tourist center.

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