Preserving and promoting the heritage values ​​of Hoi An associated with sustainable tourism development

VHO - On October 20, in Hoi An ward, the People's Committee of Da Nang city held a conference to summarize the implementation of the Master Plan for investment in conservation, restoration and promotion of the world cultural heritage value of Hoi An ancient town associated with the development of Hoi An city and sustainable tourism in the period 2012-2025. At the same time, it oriented appropriate development strategies in the new context.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong attended and co-chaired the Conference. Attending the conference were more than 200 delegates representing leaders of the Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Construction; Finance; UNESCO Office in Vietnam; Leaders of the People's Committee of Da Nang City, relevant departments, branches and sectors; researchers, experts, international organizations...

Conference scene

Nearly 20 presentations at the Conference from experts, researchers, representatives of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam, specialized units under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with research and heritage management organizations and local experts focused on core contents such as: Planning and investment in conservation, heritage management model, the relationship between conservation and development, policy - financial - legal mechanisms, the role of the community and international cooperation. Many proposals are strategic, creative, highly applicable, and suitable for heritage management practices in Hoi An Ancient Town and heritage cities in Vietnam.

On January 12, 2012, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 78/QD-TTg approving the Plan for conservation, restoration and promotion of the value of Hoi An Ancient Town associated with the development of Hoi An city and tourism in the period 2012 - 2025.

The tasks include: Planning investment in cultural heritage conservation; Planning investment associated with tourism development; Completing the legal system for heritage management.

The total investment is 1,324,265 billion VND, including capital from the national target program (for original relics); capital from the Government's targeted support program (mainly for technical infrastructure works, with a part for anti-risk relics); government bond capital (for relic restoration with direct capital recovery and other project objectives); ODA capital (mainly for original relics); capital from the National Action Program on tourism (for cultural sites); capital from the province (for investment preparation and compensation); capital from the source of relic exploitation and tourism (for relic restoration and emergency rescue); capital from funding sources (used for specific purposes of funding); capital calling for investment (in the form of investment - exploitation); own capital (of the people).

After nearly 14 years of implementation, the Planning tasks have achieved results such as: The group of tasks for investing in preserving cultural heritage, preserving architectural space and planning ancient urban areas has been integrated into the city's planning and development plans.

Accordingly, the heritage area is identified as the center of the master plan, preserved in its original state; the surrounding areas are planned in a harmonious transition direction, ensuring a close connection and conformity with the heritage space. Natural ecological spaces and traditional craft villages are preserved to the maximum and connected with the Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An World Biosphere Reserve, creating a unified whole between conservation space and sustainable development.

Preserving ancient and old structures. Up to now, the relic system in Hoi An includes: 1 special national relic, 27 national relics, 50 provincial relics, 19 relics on the protection list for the period 2024-2029.

Hoi An Ancient Town

Regarding the work of investing in the restoration and embellishment of relics, the State has invested from the budget for 75 projects; of which 26 projects are in the heritage area and 49 projects are outside the heritage area with a total cost of nearly 299 billion VND.

The People's Committee of Hoi An City (old) has issued support mechanisms for the restoration and embellishment of private and collective relics, applicable to both inside and outside the heritage area. In the period 2012-2024, these mechanisms supported 174 relics, with a total cost of over 38 billion VND, of which the relic owners contributed over 7 billion VND.

Some ancient houses in the heritage area have been converted to controlled uses, serving traditional education, cultural exhibition and tourism, etc.

The work of preserving intangible cultural heritage has been strongly implemented by all levels and sectors. The work of inventorying and identifying intangible heritage has been promoted, with 8 heritages being listed in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and 5 artisans being awarded the title of “Meritorious Artisan”.

Traditional customs, festivals, and beliefs are maintained in community life; many types of heritage that are at risk of being lost have been invested in to restore and maintain regularly. In addition, new festivals and cultural events are created based on indigenous culture, contributing to the formation of unique and attractive tourism products, increasing the vitality of heritage.

During the period 2012-2025, from many different sources, through projects and plans... traditional craft villages will be invested in facilities, infrastructure, landscape and environmental improvement to create attractive tourist destinations based on cultural and ecological values.

Thanh Ha pottery village, Tra Que vegetable village, Kim Bong carpentry village are priority investment locations, and have now become unique tourist destinations, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.

In the group of investment planning tasks associated with tourism development, outstanding results have been achieved. The Service - Tourism - Trade sector has risen to play a leading role in the economy of Hoi An city.

From 2012 to June 2025, Hoi An achieved 81 tourism titles voted by prestigious international and domestic organizations.

In 2024, the number of tourists to Hoi An will reach 4,426,000. In the period from 2012 to the first 6 months of 2025, the total number of visitors buying tickets to visit the heritage site will be 17,383,344 (of which domestic visitors are 3,301,736, foreign visitors are 14,081,608), revenue from selling tickets to visit the heritage site will reach over 1,901 billion VND,...

Tourists visit Hoi An ancient town

In addition to the achieved results, the implementation of the Plan still has some limitations and difficulties, mainly: The lack of formation of component projects with high scale and comprehensiveness in the initial stage has affected the overall synchronization and connection of the Plan. The investment programs and projects from the old Quang Nam province and the old Hoi An city later are not large enough in scale and scope to create connections and spillover effects.

Resources mobilized for investment in implementing the Plan are still limited, mainly relying on the state budget of the province and city. Attracting socialized capital, aid, and international cooperation still faces many difficulties, leading to a number of projects that have been established but cannot be implemented due to lack of capital, or are prolonged in a state of waiting for funding arrangement.

The scale of the Plan is relatively large, requiring close coordination of many agencies, sectors, and levels as well as professional guidance from central agencies. However, in reality, the coordination, management and operation mechanisms in the organization and implementation of the Plan are still lacking in synchronization and have not brought about the expected results.

The presentations at the Conference also discussed a number of requirements and issues regarding planning orientation for conservation and promotion of heritage values ​​in the next period.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Thi - Vice Chairman of Da Nang City People's Committee spoke at the Conference

Speaking at the Conference, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Thi - Vice Chairwoman of Da Nang City People's Committee affirmed: The World Cultural Heritage of Hoi An Ancient Town is one of the treasures not only of Da Nang City but also the common pride of Vietnam on the world heritage map.

In particular, since the Prime Minister approved Decision No. 78, conservation work has entered a new phase - more systematic, more in-depth and more closely linked between heritage conservation and socio-economic development and sustainable tourism development.

Hoi An - as a living heritage, ecological, cultural and tourist city - has become a symbol of the blend of tradition and modernity, of identity and integration.

2025 is the end of the term of the Master Plan for Investment in Conservation, Restoration and Promotion of the World Cultural Heritage of Hoi An Ancient Town - an important milestone for us to seriously review and summarize the past journey and, more importantly, to plan a new vision, overall and long-term orientation for the next stage - in accordance with the conditions, requirements and challenges in the current situation.

In the context of implementing the two-level local government model, Hoi An has the conditions to be more proactive in conservation work, shorten administrative procedures, improve management efficiency, and at the same time ensure harmony between conservation and tourism development, between preserving cultural values ​​and improving community life.

Hoi An is a living urban heritage, requiring us to be extremely careful, considerate, and scientific to ensure that we do not break the overall character of an ancient commercial port city - an ecological - cultural - tourist city in the historical, cultural, architectural and natural landscape connection between the current localities; ensure the connection of conservation and development space between Hoi An Ancient Town and Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve; overcome shortcomings, resolve risks and challenges that have been and are posing to the heritage, keep up with the digital age, the digital era.

The People's Committee of Da Nang City hopes that today's Conference will be a scientific, objective and highly practical forum, where delegates will together analyze and evaluate the achieved results, point out the shortcomings and difficulties, and especially propose strategic, creative and practical orientations and solutions to preserve and promote the value of Hoi An Ancient Town sustainably in the coming time.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/bao-ton-phat-huy-gia-tri-di-san-hoi-an-gan-voi-phat-trien-du-lich-ben-vung-175858.html