Hanoi (VNA) - Cultural tourism has become a trend in recent years, and a highlight of the development of Vietnam's cultural tourism industry is that more young people are interested in prot𒈔ecting and promoting the nation's good cultural values through tourism.

"As a person whose main purpose of travel is to explore culture, Vietnam is a cultural tourism centre for me,” Will in Vietnam told the Vietnam News Agency. Will in Vietnam's real name is Will Courageux, a famous foreign video blogger in Vietnam. Vietnam has a long history and a profound traditional culture with thousands of festivals and relic sites as well as geographical diversity. There are always new things to explore and learn about in Vietnam, he said, adding that this is a main reason why a large number of Europeans have flocked to the Southeast Asian nation to explore local cultural heritage, history and food. He said that he did not plan to live in Vietnam at first, but after arriving in the country he became interested in local customs and residents.

Vietnam's culture and cuisine have many similarities with France, he noted, especially, Vietnamese people are very approachable and hospitable. Initially, Will worked as an IT engineer for a large technology group in Hanoi. However, he loved creating content, exploring life and food. Stranded and unable to return home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he began to post videos on TikTok. As he has a lot of free time, he has been shooting three TikTok videos almost every day since 2020. He sees the differences and uniqueness of Vietnam from a foreigner's perspective. Will in Vietnam's TikTok account has 3.2 million followers, YouTube account has more than 950,000 followers, and Facebook account has 400,000 followers. Commenting on the development trend of cultural tourism in Vietnam, Will said that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, cultural tourism has indeed achieved leapfrog growth, and various festivals and historical relic sites have received more attention.

Khoai Lang Thang, whose real name is Dinh Vo Hoai Phuong, is a very famous travel blogger in the Vietnamese video blogger community. Born in southern Ben Tre province in 1991, he was originally a construction engineer and did not know photography or videography, but with his love for food, travel and the culture of various regions and countries, Phuong released his first video in February 2017. At first, it didn’t get many views but he was not discouraged and continued to work hard to improve each video. He always paid attention to his content, image and appearance. Gradually, his videos not only bring joy and relaxation to the audience, but also convey positive messages full of love to the community. To date, his TikTok account has attracted more than 1.7 million followers, along with 2.5 million followers on Facebook, 2.29 million on YouTube and 228,000 on Instagram. Phuong uses money earned through his account to carry out many community projects to help poor children in the areas he has visited. He is also the founder of the "Vietnam - Untold Stories" project, which aims to build more than 30 playgrounds in needy schools across Vietnam. As a young man who loves cultural tourism, Phuong believes that cultural tourism can help tourists gain a deeper understanding of the local customs and customs of the places they visit. Cultural connections are always much stronger than just connecting through beautiful scenery, he continued. "Beautiful scenery can attract tourists to a place once or twice, but if they love the culture of that place, they will go more often,” he said. Liu Jianxin, a Chinese tourist, who has visited four cities of Vietnam, including Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City, said that each city has different characteristics, such as Hanoi with its old quarter, Hue with royal features, Da Nang with an image of a tranquil coastal city, and Ho Chi Minh City with the beauty of a prosperous metropolis. He said that more and more Chinese tourists, especially young people, choose to travel to Vietnam and images of Vietnam can be seen everywhere on Chinese social networks. This has made an important contribution to strengthening mutual understanding between the two countries. The Vietnamese government's cultural industry development strategy 2020 and vision 2030 determines that cultural tourism is an important part of the national economy. Along with the country's development, people's demand for enjoying cultural values is increasing. Therefore, developing cultural resources to promote tourism and socio-economic development in general has become an urgent requirement and a common trend. According to Vu Anh Tu, an expert from Journal of Cultural Studies under the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies, culture is the community's value created and practiced by the community. Therefore, anyone who participates in promoting cultural values in life, especially in the development of cultural tourism, should be respected and encouraged. The participation of young people in the development of cultural tourism is line with the current trend, and it is also of great significance to spread and promote national cultural values, enhance the diversity and attractiveness of cultural tourism products. However, Tu said that cultural tourism products have their own characteristics, and it is not simple to integrate cultural values into tourism products, which can easily lead to going to beyond limits or changing the nature and value of culture. In addition to incentives and support, the development of cultural tourism requies the strengthening of management and supervision as well as communication and education activities to improve awareness of society and tourism workers in particular on protecting and promoting national cultural values, he added./.