The Role of Tourism in Socio-Economic Development

cultural festivals, traditional festivals, flower festivals, tea festivals, Vespa festivals… and other competitions along with outdoor music and dance performances.

1.4.5. Special tourism products

Special tourism products such as: sports (sailing, surfing, canoeing, horse riding, skydiving, etc.), game shows, conference summaries, customer conferences or culinary arts, etc., these are special products that require product market segmentation and selection of appropriate types.

1.5. Tourism product life cycle

Tourism products, like other products, are always affected by the stages of the product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

But not all products are required to go through the above stages in sequence. Some products have rapid and sustainable growth in the early stages, some products reach early saturation, some products go through saturation without decline, and continue a new growth period.

The time and life cycle of tourism products are influenced by many factors,

especially by the strategic and tactical actions of competitors.

1.6. Quality of tourism products

In the market mechanism, enterprises aim at the quality of products or services according to the value approach and consumer perspective. However, a business often has many different types of customers. Therefore, to satisfy different needs of customers, quality is considered a basic business strategy of the enterprise. This strategy must ensure the provision of goods and services that completely satisfy the current and potential expectations of customers. This strategy uses the talents of all members to achieve benefits for the organization in particular, for society in general and must bring profits to shareholders.

The issue of diversifying tourism products cannot be separated from the quality of tourism products. The quality of tourism products not only satisfies tourists but also does not affect the surrounding society and environment. Due to the diversity and richness of tourism products, creating a quality tourism product is not easy.

Diversifying tourism products does not mean developing them indiscriminately but needs to be selective. In addition to the orientation of developing tourism business types, the orientation of diversifying and improving the quality of tourism products is equally important. Local authorities need to orient development to suit the needs of domestic and international tourism markets.

1.7. Concept of competitive advantage

The concept of competitive advantage must first come from the customer. A customer will buy a product or service from a business just because the product or service is cheaper but has the same quality or more expensive but has higher quality than the product or service of a competitor. Quality is the value of a product or service that consumers can find in that product and not in other competing products, or in other words, that product or service has strengths that are superior to other competitors.

Competitive advantages in the market are basically of two types, which are lower cost strategy and differentiation strategy in terms of product quality, appearance, quick response ability... The source of competitive advantage is closely related to the company's strategy and quality productivity. To gain competitive advantage, each enterprise needs to improve its competitiveness in all aspects.

To improve competitiveness is not only the work of the tourism industry but requires multi-sectoral coordination, not only the work of the tourism and trade department but also of tourism businesses and of each local resident.

1.8. Concept of tourism brand

A brand is an absolute commitment to quality, service and value over a long period of time, proven by its effectiveness and customer satisfaction. A brand is a cultural, rational, emotional, visual and exclusive image that we associate with a product or a company. A brand is the soul of a business, the reputation of the company, the trust that customers have in the company.

Tourism brand is a unique and outstanding feature of local tourism products that remains forever in the memory of tourists. When mentioning that place, people immediately think of the outstanding features that only that place has. Tourism brand is the place where there are famous tourism products.

1.9. The role of tourism in socio-economic development

Tourism is an important comprehensive economic sector, with profound cultural content, interdisciplinary, inter-regional and highly socialized; developing the tourism economy is both a goal and a basis and driving force to promote the overall development of the socio-economy. Tourism is increasingly becoming important in the economic activities of countries.

Tourism is important in the economy, so now most countries, regions and cities are trying to promote local strengths to effectively exploit tourism products. Every year, the tourism industry has brought many countries a huge amount of money, attracting a large number of labor forces. Tourism development can improve many aspects of the investment environment, enhance cooperation and foreign economic exchange.

For Vietnam, the development of tourism economy has brought a large amount of foreign currency to the country, contributed to creating a surplus balance of payments, increased the proportion of services in the national economy, created more jobs for local people... It can be said that tourism has brought many economic and social values to the locality in particular and to the whole country in general. For that reason, our Party and State

has prioritized the development of the tourism industry, considering it one of the country's key economic sectors.

Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said: In 2006, Vietnam welcomed 3.585 million international visitors and 17.5 million domestic visitors, achieving total social revenue from tourism of about 3.18 billion USD. In 2010, Vietnam is expected to welcome 6 million international visitors and 25 million domestic visitors. Tourism revenue in 2010 reached about 4-5 billion USD.

1.10. Factors affecting the tourism product development process

The rise of the tourism and entertainment industry has forced governments to look to the future of this sector. Managers need to offer their localities and countries rich and diverse tourism products that meet the highest satisfaction of tourists, effectively exploiting the natural resources and human resources of the locality.

Tourism planning in general and tourism product development in particular need to take into account the tourism space and leisure time. That is to create a space for different purposes while also considering the leisure time of tourists.

To consider and evaluate the feasibility of tourism products, we need to know how to evaluate local and regional opportunities, as well as know the potential needs of tourists. Collecting data on climate, geology, topography, history can be done relatively easily, while learning about people is much more difficult.

The creation of tourism products requires resources such as: human resources, natural resources, cultural tourism resources, financial resources, general infrastructure of the economy, investment policies of the state as well as localities on tourism...

The success of a tourism product is often built on good relationships between the local community, tourism businesses, local authorities and the State. Necessary steps to create a tourism product

success: first, it is necessary to list the current and future elements of the tourism product provided by the geographical entity. The next step is to identify potential markets, segment and select target markets; determine the overall product and its position in the selected target market; the product must be organized and coordinated so that tourists can find their benefits. Finally, the product must be offered to tourists with a complete service system.

1.11. Experience in diversifying tourism products of some countries

Thailand:

Thailand's tourism industry has undergone a process of diversifying tourism products in many aspects: in terms of service facilities, types, scale and quality of tourism services.

The increase in the number and composition of international visitors to Thailand has led to a diversification of tourist destinations. Parks are considered both tourist destinations and nature reserves. Around natural attractions, there are often special types of tourism such as: picnic and adventure tours, walking tours, cave tours and other diverse eco-tours.

In recent years, the number of historical palaces, temples and museums that have been opened to the public and visitors has increased.

The hill tribes have become one of the tourist attractions. The hill tribes are recreated right in the tourist centers near the main tourist cities of Thailand.

Fairs, festivals and folk art are increasingly attracting tourists. Traditional festivals are widely promoted to potential visitors; some handicraft villages and markets have also become popular tourist attractions, such as Dan Kwien pottery village and Ban Thawai carving village.

Throughout the plains and valleys, many resorts have been established. Although the number of tourists who go exploring the highlands on their own

The number of tourists coming to the area through the tour companies has increased rapidly and diversified. Phuket now has many golf courses and other recreational facilities such as butterfly gardens, shooting ranges, handicraft and souvenir centers, etc.

Furthermore, the Thai government always encourages people to find ways to manage resources for the benefit and development of the community. Local people have the right to participate in tourism development for community development and to preserve natural and human resources.

Thailand is considered a typical model that can be referenced to build a synchronous tourism development model to attract tourists in large numbers.

Singapore:

Singapore has a small area of about 648 km2 , and natural resources are not abundant for tourism development. However, they have overcome the problem of lack of natural resources by creating unique artificial tourism products.

To attract tourists, Singapore constantly diversifies its tourism products by building many entertainment areas such as: Sentosa Amusement Center with cultural and sports activities, walking areas, boating and restaurants; Ocean Park is the largest and most modern park in Singapore with more than 250 species of marine life...

Singapore is also known as the land of flowers, especially orchids. Singapore National Garden is considered a tropical museum, with more than 2,000 different flower species inside. This is also a unique tourist product that attracts many visitors to visit and study.

Singapore is considered the country with the cleanest and greenest environment in the world. This result is due to the strict regulations here, the serious implementation process, and the high awareness of environmental protection and resources of the people. Typically: Spitting or littering will be fined 1000 Singapore dollars; Smoking is prohibited in public places such as subways, cinemas, supermarkets, hotel lobbies, restaurants... If anyone violates, they will be fined 50 Singapore dollars...

It is the high awareness of environmental protection of the people and the ability to create unique artificial tourism products that have helped Singapore's tourism industry become successful and famous around the world.

Indonesia:

Indonesia pays great attention to diversifying tourism products to meet the increasing demands of domestic and foreign tourists. Indonesia is a country with thousands of different islands, the government has advocated exploiting the potential of sea tourism with many rich types. On the other hand, the government also advocates combining sea tourism with many unique and diverse types of folk culture. Ecotourism is also prioritized by the government for investment and development, Indonesia has implemented five principles for the development of ecotourism:

- Responsibility, care and commitment to conservation;

- Consult and gain approval from local communities on the development of ecotourism;

- Ensure benefits for local communities;

- Sensitivity and respect for local culture and religious traditions;

- Respect government regulations and laws.

In order to continuously diversify tourism products, the government has strengthened the close inter-sectoral relationship between tourism and the transportation, national security and defense, and education and training sectors. The state creates the best conditions to encourage the private sector to invest in the tourism industry.

The issue of training human resources and improving professional qualifications for tourism staff, especially tour guides, is always of concern to businesses, localities and the state.

Diversifying tourism products is always associated with educating people about environmental protection and natural resources.

CHAPTER 2

CURRENT STATUS AND POTENTIAL

DIVERSIFICATION OF TOURISM PRODUCTS IN LAM DONG PROVINCE

2.1. The position of tourism in the economic development of Lam Dong province

Lam Dong's tourism industry has made significant contributions to the overall development of the province's economy in recent years. The period 2001 - 2006 marked the strong rise of the service economic sector. Service revenue accounted for 12.9% of the province's total GDP, of which tourism alone accounted for 31.43%. Social revenue from Lam Dong tourism in recent years has grown strongly, with an average growth rate of 29.75%.

Table 2.1: Social revenue from Lam Dong tourism in the period 2001 - 2006

Unit: Billion VND

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