Hanoi (VNA) – Adventure tourism is increasingly popular in the world and attractive to those who love trying new exciting experiences. With diverse terrains, Vietnam is a haven for developing this type of tourism, but safety still needs to be given the top priority.
Identified as an important type of travel, adventure tourism had a global market value of about 324.9 billion USD in 2022, and the figure is predicted to hit 2 trillion USD by 2032, Bloomberg cited a forecast of market research firm Allied Market Research.
Home to many mountains, hills, caves, rivers, and springs, Vietnam boasts huge potential for adventure tourism, said Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (ITDR) under the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Adventure tourism itself includes several sub-types such as air-based (helicopter tours, paragliding, parachuting), land-based (camping, mountaineering, trekking, rope walking), and water-based ones (kayaking, waterfall exploration, and diving).
A tourist tries highwire, an outdoor game in which players step on many wooden slabs hung on big trees or concrete poles, in Hue city.
A zipline system over the Chai River – Toi Cave in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park.
A diving tour off the coast of Hon Mun (Mun Islet) in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa.
Travellers climb Mount Pu Xai La Leng in central Nghe An province.
Many provinces and cities such as Ha Giang, Bac Kan, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Quang Ninh, Quang Binh, Nghe An, and Hanoi have built strategies for developing adventure tourism.
In the northeastern and northwestern regions, a number of adventure tours have been launched, including the tours of Mount Fansipan in Lao Cai province, Mount Bach Moc Luong Tu in Lai Chau province, Mount Tay Con Linh in Ha Giang province, Ban Gioc Waterfalls in Cao Bang province, and the Ba Be National Park in Bac Kan province.
In Hanoi, the management board of the Ba Vi National Park has offered a mountaineering tour of this park for many years. Meanwhile, outstanding products of adventure travel in the central region include tours of caves in Quang Binh province and tours of Mount Pu Xai Lai Leng in Nghe An province.
The love to conquer oneself
Most of those who love adventure tourism want to try mountaineering, exploring caves, and paragliding, among others, to merge themselves with nature and gain the feeling of having conquered their fears.
“Trekking has provided challenges and a sense of freedom. I can spend time in nature, have more friends sharing the same interest with me during challenging journeys, and equip myself with many more survival skills in life,” said Duc Hieu, a 24-year-old man who has hiked for five years.
Thu Quynh, 24, overcame slopes, forests, and springs to reach the peaks of Lao Than, Nhiu Co San, and Cu Nhu San in 2021.
Quynh said she was completely satisfied as climbing mountains was extremely tiring but once reaching the peak, it was rewarding. Standing on the tops of mountains, she felt she could merge with nature, with the fresh air, the bright sun, and a sea of drifting clouds there.
In its Decree 168/ND-CP, dated December 31, 2017, the Government issued regulations on measures for ensuring safety for travelers who use the tourism products posing risks to their lives and health. In 2018, the national standards on adventure tourism were also released.
Water skiiing off in Nha Trang city
Downhilling is also a sport attractve to young people. (Photo: VNA)
In particular, the Vietnam tourism development strategy until 2030, approved by the Prime Minister on January 22, 2020, listed adventure sports tourism as one of the key tourism products of the country. Accordingly, some adventure tourism products Vietnam can develop in the time ahead include paragliding, hot air ballooning, parachuting, ziplining, mountain and sand biking and driving, rope walking, mountain and cliff climbing, diving, waterfall kayaking, waterskiing, surfing, and cave and forest exploration.
The ITDR held that to strongly boost adventure tourism, businesses should design products meeting Vietnamese and international safety standards, seriously comply with legal regulations on adventure tourism, improve service quality, and frequently examine safety and hygiene conditions. Meanwhile, local authorities need to conduct the recognition of qualified tourism service suppliers and encourage them to maintain service quality to ensure standardised services and safety conditions for travellers.
Travelers need to adhere to the rules on adventure tourism while tour guides must be provided with training to ensure safety for all visitors. In addition, authorities need to keep close supervision and conduct frequent inspection to ensure that businesses and staff members comply with legal regulations and technical standards of adventure tourism products, according to the ITDR.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the provincial-level People’s Committees coordinate with relevant agencies to support sustainable tourism that features professional service, competitive prices, a clean environment, and destinations that are safe, civilized and friendly.
Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said standards on adventure tourism are now in place, but the important thing is how to effectively apply them in reality. To do that, the National Authority of Tourism needs to monitor the development and progress of adventure tourism around the country to keep things safe and in check./.
