Fostering quality tourist information centres in Vietnam

Tourist Information Centers (TICs) play an important role in promoting visitation to tourism destinations and are integral in creating a positive travel experience for visitors through the provision of friendly and professional customer service and useful travel information. TICs also play an increasingly important role in supporting local communities by strategically promoting tourism by displaying or selling locally made products and services.

However, with TICs in Vietnam being few and far between and with varying levels of quality, it is clear that there is still a long way to go before Vietnam has a strong, co-ordinated and effective network of TlCs that provide visitors with a warm welcome and the information and assistance they need in order to have a pleasant experience in Vietnam.

In order to strengthen the sustainability and the effectiveness of TlCs in Vietnam, ESRT is collaborating with UNESCO to develop TIC Standards for Vietnam as well as a TIC Operations Guide that will cover all aspects of good practice including meeting legal requirements, design elements, management, customer service, communications, marketing, financing, building partnerships and visitor research.

The TIC Standards and TIC Operations Guide are expected to be completed in May 2013 to coincide with the opening of the newly refurbished Hoi An Tourist Information Centre. To support implementation of the standards and guide, ESRT will develop and implement a training programme for the Hoi An Tourist Information Centre staff.

DON TAYLOR (Responsible Tourism Specialist)

Source: vietnamtourism.gov.vn