Material and Technical Facilities of Spiritual Cultural Tourism

People are still used to using the word pilgrimage to talk about their trips. In those pilgrimages, in addition to the purpose of spiritual beliefs, pilgrims also enjoy the wonderful beauty of nature, access to the customs and practices of local residents' lives and enjoy the conveniences of services. However, up to this point, there has not been a specific definition of spiritual cultural tourism. But in recent times, the type of cultural - religious tourism associated with domestic and international pilgrimage tours, organized by a number of businesses, has increased, which shows that the spiritual needs in the community are increasingly diverse. Venerable Thich Dao Dao in his presentation on the topic of Dharma propagation on the issue of spiritual tourism said: "Spiritual tourism seeks to learn about culture and traditional values. Visit with the mind and heart. Nurture and expand understanding towards goodness, harmony with nature, fellow human beings, and living beings. Enhancing spiritual values, understanding spirituality better, specifically for Buddhism, we understand more about the truth of liberation, the true value of present life". Former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam said: "Spiritual tourism means visiting with the heart". In his speech at the International Conference on Spiritual Tourism for Sustainable Development held in Ninh Binh on November 21-22, 2013, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said: "In terms of content and nature of activities, spiritual tourism is essentially a type of cultural tourism that takes spiritual and cultural elements as both the basis and the goal to satisfy people's spiritual needs in their spiritual life. According to that perspective, spiritual tourism exploits spiritual cultural elements in the process of tourism activities, based on tangible and intangible cultural values associated with the history of human perception of the world, values of faith, religion, beliefs and other special spiritual values. Thus, spiritual cultural tourism is a combination of tourism and spirituality - beliefs. These are two necessary needs in human life, aiming to bring beauty to life along with sublimation in the soul. Spiritual cultural tourism must note

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The following points: - Spiritual cultural tourism is a type of cultural tourism but exploits religious objects and spiritual beliefs in tourism activities to satisfy the needs of beliefs, religions, sightseeing, learning and raising awareness of tourists. - Activities of spiritual cultural tourism must be based on the principle of respecting and preserving cultural values including both material and spiritual values, through tourism activities to preserve relics of religious significance such as: pagodas, communal houses, temples, churches... or traditional rituals, festivals and cultural and artistic values, cuisine... Because that is the main object that creates attractive spiritual cultural tourism products for tourists.

1.2.3. Destination of spiritual cultural tourism

According to M.Buchvarov, a tourist destination is the lowest level in the five-level tourism hierarchy: tourist destination – tourist core – tourist sub-region – tourist sub-region – tourist region. In terms of territory, a tourist destination is small in scale, “a place where a certain type of resource (natural, cultural, historical or socio-economic) or a separate type of construction serving tourism or a combination of both on a small scale is concentrated”.[47, p.113]

According to the Marketing perspective: "A tourist destination is a place that we can perceive by geographical borders, political borders or economic borders, has attractive tourism resources, and has the ability to attract and meet the needs of tourists". [20, p.341]

For spiritual cultural tourism, a tourist destination is a place where a certain type of spiritual cultural tourism is concentrated to serve tourism. Usually, this destination is often associated with relics associated with religion (such as temples of literature, pagodas, churches, etc.), and relics associated with beliefs (communal houses, temples, shrines, palaces, etc.).

1.2.4. Material and technical facilities of spiritual cultural tourism

Technical tourism facilities include: tourism industry facilities (food and beverage facilities, entertainment facilities, etc.) are direct factors in ensuring conditions for tourism services to be created and provided to tourists;

Technical facilities of some other national economic sectors participating in tourism services (transportation, post, electricity and water, etc.). These factors are very important and directly affect the exploitation of resources, serving tourists, and at the same time contribute to determining the length of stay and spending level of tourists. For cultural and spiritual tourists, technical facilities must have specific service conditions, for dining establishments, they can be vegetarian restaurants, diet restaurants, etc., for accommodation establishments, it is necessary to decorate and arrange equipment in hotel rooms and suites to suit each group of guests according to their beliefs and religions, etc., but must still ensure 4 main requirements: level of comfort, level of aesthetics, level of hygiene and level of safety.

1.2.5. Products of spiritual cultural tourism

According to the Vietnam Tourism Law (Article 14, Chapter 1): "Tourism products are a set of necessary services to satisfy the needs of tourists during a trip".

According to the Marketing perspective: "Tourism products are goods and services that can satisfy the needs of tourists, which tourism businesses offer on the market, with the aim of attracting tourists' attention to shopping and consumption". [20, p. 218]

The elements of a tourism product include: tourist attractions; accessibility of the destination; facilities and services of the destination; image of the destination; prices of goods and services of the destination. Spiritual cultural tourism products have the characteristics of cultural tourism products: Highly sustainable and unchanging; Bearing the imprint of the indigenous community, aiming to serve the cultural and spiritual life of the indigenous people; The product is highly qualitative, difficult to determine quantitatively, the value of the product is intangible, expressed through impressions and feelings.

1.2.6. Tourists with spiritual and cultural purposes

For the tourism industry to operate and develop, tourists are the decisive factor. Without tourists, tourism businesses

cannot do business. So if we look at it from a market perspective, tourists are the “market demand”, and tourism businesses are the “market supply”.

So what is a tourist? According to the Law on Tourism (Chapter 1, Article 4): “A tourist is a person who travels or combines travel, except for those who go to study, work or practice a profession to earn income at the destination”. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Duc Thanh: “Tourists are people who come from other places with/or with the purpose of appreciating on-site the material, spiritual, tangible or intangible values of nature and/or of the social community. In terms of economics, tourists are people who use the services of travel, accommodation, and food businesses…” [36, p. 20]

Thus, we can generalize spiritual cultural tourists as: - Tourists who travel for the purpose of spiritual culture and have all the elements of tourists. Tourists can travel with the motive of resting, recovering their mental and physical health, or for the purpose of sightseeing, research, learning about culture or combined with other purposes such as business, conferences, seminars.

Spiritual tourists in Vietnam often gather at spiritual tourist destinations such as temples, pagodas, communal houses, mausoleums, holy sites, places of worship, memorials and sacred lands associated with unique landscapes, traditional culture and local lifestyles. There, tourists carry out sightseeing activities, learn about culture, history, philosophy, pray, worship, pay tribute, show gratitude, meditate, participate in festivals, etc.

1.2.7. Preserving cultural heritage in spiritual cultural tourism

* Cultural heritage (including tangible and intangible) is identified as an important part of the human living environment. It is a valuable asset that cannot be regenerated and cannot be replaced but is easily deformed by the impacts of external factors such as climate, weather, natural disasters, war; rapid economic development; uncontrolled exploitation; illegal trade of antiques; the loss of ethical traditions due to exchange and contact.

and finally, unprofessional conservation and restoration, not following scientific standards... are threats to cultural heritage. Therefore, the conservation, restoration and preservation of these valuable assets are both an intrinsic need and a mandatory requirement for tourism activities. Conservation and promotion of cultural heritage values are a concern of all countries, especially developing and integrating countries like Vietnam. However, this is also a very sensitive issue because cultural heritage resources have very unique, diverse and vulnerable characteristics. In many places, people have been and are devaluing, even "killing" relics during the restoration process. The cause of all mistakes comes from distorted perceptions, in most cases due to overemphasizing economic development, putting profit goals above all. The second reason is the lack of understanding of cultural preservation, people try to completely remake many components or even an entire project without knowing that the relic has been erased, replaced by a "soulless" reconstruction of the relic. Therefore, the process of preserving cultural heritage must be carried out seriously, systematically, based on the results of thorough research on that relic, and must be carefully monitored. The work of preserving and restoring relics should not be considered a series of ready-made formulas or models that are universal and rigid. On the contrary, in the work of preserving and restoring relics, specific strategies, models and theoretical principles must be flexibly applied depending on the historical conditions, characteristics and typical values of specific relics in the following order of priority: First, the top priority is to protect and promote the typical values of the relics (historical, cultural, scientific values and traditional functions as well as new functions of the relics). Second, apply all possible measures to preserve and restore, create conditions for long-term preservation and transfer of the original elements and historical authenticity of the relics to the next generation, who will have material and technical conditions that are certainly better than ours, and can propose conservation plans.

more appropriate. Third, the conservation and restoration must also ensure the maintenance of the traditional functions of the relic. Because those traditional functions will create the ability for the relic to meet the needs of the times. From the above presentation, in the strategy of preserving and promoting cultural heritage, the following principles must be implemented: First, only minimal intervention on the relic, but it is necessary to establish a mechanism for regular and periodic maintenance and upkeep to ensure the long-term stability of the relic. Second, the relic can be used and promoted to serve social needs according to established scientific standards. Using and promoting the values of the relic is also the most effective conservation measure. Third, the conservation of cultural heritage must be implemented in parallel and serve the cause of socio-economic development and vice versa, development must be combined with the conservation of cultural heritage. According to the Law on Cultural Heritage (Chapter 1, Article 4), cultural heritage conservation includes the following activities: Collection is a set of relics, antiquities, national treasures or intangible cultural heritage, collected, preserved, and systematically arranged according to common signs of form, content and material to meet the needs of studying natural and social history. Cultural heritage inventory: is the activity of identifying, determining the value and cataloging cultural heritage. Archaeological exploration and excavation: is a scientific activity to discover, collect, and research relics, antiquities, national treasures and archaeological sites. Preservation of historical - cultural relics, scenic spots, relics, antiquities, national treasures: is an activity to prevent and limit the risk of damage without changing the original elements inherent in historical relics.

- culture, scenic spots, relics, antiquities, national treasures. Restoration of historical - cultural relics, scenic spots: is the activity to repair, reinforce, and embellish historical - cultural relics, scenic spots. Restoration of historical - cultural relics, scenic spots: is the activity to reconstruct historical - cultural relics, scenic spots that have been destroyed based on scientific data about those historical - cultural relics, scenic spots.

Chapter 1 Summary

Spiritual cultural tourism is a form of tourism that is developing strongly in many places, including Vietnam. Tourists who follow this type of tourism often visit temples, pagodas, religious and belief sites to sightsee, worship and pray. Here, tourists join the stream of believers to feel the peace, serenity and tranquility. Spiritual tourism is always associated with faith and goodness. It exploits the elements of religious beliefs, folk beliefs or national history. A pilgrimage site originating from the roots of the nation, carrying elements of religious beliefs will bring tourists confidence in inner strength, find peace of mind and sublimate in a life of goodness. This is also the highest purpose of the journey of spiritual cultural tourism. In addition, the activities of this type of tourism must be based on the principle of respecting and preserving cultural values, including both material and spiritual values, through tourism activities to preserve relics of religious significance such as pagodas, communal houses, temples, churches... or traditional rituals, festivals, cultural arts, cuisine... Because that is the main object that creates attractive spiritual cultural tourism products for tourists.

CHAPTER 2

POTENTIAL AND CURRENT STATE OF SPIRITUAL CULTURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AT SOME CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN XUAN TRUONG DISTRICT, NAM DINH

2.1. Overview of Xuan Truong district, Nam Dinh

Xuan Truong is a district in the Southeast of Nam Dinh province. To the North it borders Vu Thu district, Thai Binh province, to the South it borders Hai Hau district, to the East it borders Giao Thuy district, to the West it borders Truc Ninh district.

* Area: Natural area 112.8 km2 .

* Population: Over 190,000 people, of which Catholics account for about 30%, population density is about 1,696 people/km2 (higher than the average of the province). The working-age population is nearly 100,000 people (of which agricultural workers account for about 72%). In general, Xuan Truong workers are educated, hard-working, creative in work, many of whom are highly skilled, which is an important premise for developing human resources to meet the cause of industrialization and modernization of the homeland.

* Administrative units: the district consists of 19 communes and one town: Xuan Bac, Xuan Chau, Xuan Dai, Xuan Hoa, Xuan Hong, Xuan Kien, Xuan Ninh, Xuan Ngoc, Xuan Phong, Xuan Phu, Xuan Phuong, Xuan Tan, Xuan Thanh, Xuan Thuy, Tho Nghiep, Xuan Thuong, Xuan Tien, Xuan Trung, Xuan Vinh and Xuan Truong Town.

* Natural conditions: Being a district in the Red River Delta, the terrain is flat, the land is fertile, surrounded by 3 large rivers: the North is the Red River, the West is the Ninh Co River, the East is the So River, in the district there is also a system of rivers, canals and ditches convenient for transportation and irrigation for agricultural production.

* History of formation: Xuan Truong district has long been a part of the land created by the sea of Giao Thuy commune. In the 13th century (Tran dynasty), Giao Thuy district (including Xuan Truong and Giao Thuy today) was one of the

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