Vietnamese cuisine to become tourism attraction

Published: 09:08 Wednesday - February 27, 2013

Once established, the national trademark “the World’s Kitchen” will draw people from all the five continents to explore Vietnam’s culture through local cuisine.

Vietnamese food, with a wide range of delicious dishes bearing the hallmarks of each region, is close to all Vietnamese people and even satisfies those from other countries.

Popular dishes appear on the menus of high-end hotels inside and outside the country.

It’s very important to include cuisine in tourism development plans, especially for Hanoi which boasts plentiful and delicious dishes such as pho (rice noodles served with beef or chicken), nem (spring rolls), bun thang (rice noodles with chicken, fried egg, lean meat pie), cha ca La Vong (grilled fish pies), banh cuon Thanh Tri (steamed rice rolls), pho cuon Ngu Xa (rolled rice pancakes) and banh tom Ho Tay (shrimp cakes).

Stressing the quintessence and unique cuisine of Hanoi, Pham An Tuyet, owner of a restaurant on Ma May Street, said delicious food is the key to drawing tourists back to the country.

She said her restaurant is not only a place to introduce the gastronomy of Hanoi to tourists but also provides an opportunity for them to make Vietnamese dishes.

“Tourists have an interesting experience here as they make food by themselves and enjoy it,” she said, adding many return to thank her after they have brought Vietnamese recipes to their countries.

However, such a tourism model like Tuyet’s restaurant is not popular, although industry insiders recognise its advantages and attractiveness.

How to develop the cuisine culture into a special tourism product and a national trademark is a hard question for tourism managers.

To realise the idea, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) recently assigned Vietravel Tourism Company to build a project to develop the Vietnamese gastronomy.

The project is being built with concrete strategies, solutions and programmes to popularise Vietnamese food culture to the world, which will attract tourists and develop overseas Vietnamese communities’ business activities, said Vietravel CEO Nguyen Quoc Ky.

According to Ky, a chain of restaurants will be built to introduce local dishes to tourists in Vietnam. Meanwhile, in the international arena, relevant agencies will work with associations of Vietnamese chefs to popularise the Vietnamese gastronomy and develop its image.

In addition, Vietnamese food will be introduced at fairs and cultural events, he added.