Over the past two decades, eight sites and eight cultural practices inVietnam have been inscribed in UNESCO’s lists of world tangible andintangible heritage, while four national documentary heritage were addedto the Memory of the World list.
Each time arecognition is made, Vietnam has the chance to promote its nationaltreasure to the world, thus getting more international help for theconservation of its heritage as well as drawing more visitors to thecountry.
According to UNESCO statistics, morethan one billion tourists visit world heritage sites each year. InVietnam, the number of visitors to world heritage sites has also shownsignificant increases over the years. The complex of Hue monument in theancient imperial city of Hue and Ha Long Bay in the northern coastalprovince of Quang Ninh are now seeing two millions of visitors a yearcompared to some tens of thousands in the years of their inscription(1993 and 1994, respectively). Another site, the Hoi An ancient town inthe central province of Quang Nam draws an average 1.5 million visitors ayear.
The number of visitors to the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty in thecentral province of Thanh Hoa rocketed from just several thousand tomore than 60,000 a year after it was recognised as a World CulturalHeritage site in 2011. The increasing flow of tourists has helpeddevelop tourism and related sectors, creating jobs and income for localresidents.
At the same time, the Vietnamesegovernment has issued a range of legal documents regulating themanagement, conservation and upgrading of the national heritage ingeneral and recognised world heritage items in particular. Severalmaster plans on conserving heritage sites have been built andimplemented, including a 1,284 billion VND (61.1 million USD) plan to2020 for the Hue complex and an environmental protection scheme to 2020with a vision to 2030 for Ha Long Bay.
The UNEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) together withmany international organisations have provided valuable assistance bothtechnically and financially to Vietnam in restoration and conservationwork.
However, besides the benefits, manyproblems also arose regarding how to properly conserve the heritagewhile making good use of it for socio-economic development.
The country is short of finance for the work since conservationactivities requires a large sum of money. Meanwhile, a dearth ofprofessional and foreign language skills of the personnel along with aninflux of visitors to recognised heritage sites is also deemed asproblematic.
At a recentworkshop on developing a strategy to promote Vietnam’s World Heritage,Deputy Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage Nong Quoc Thanhstressed that UNESCO recognition was not intended to develop tourism butrather to instill the sense of responsibility among governments andcommunities to preserve and uphold the values of the heritage.
A representative from the UNESCO office said that by making good useof promotional techniques and communication tools, Vietnam couldinfluence visitors’ behaviour at heritage sites and engage the communityin heritage protection.
The eight cultural and natural WorldHeritage sites in Vietnam are the Complex of Hue Monument (recognisedin 1993), Ha Long Bay (1994), Hoi An Ancient Town (1999), My SonSanctuary (1999), Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (2003), theCentral Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi (2010),the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty (2011) and the Trang An Landscape Complex(2014).
Those inscribed in the list of the intangiblecultural heritage of humanity are Nha Nhac (court music), the Space ofgong culture, Ca Tru singing, Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk songs, Xoansinging of Phu Tho province, Giong festival of Phu Dong and Soctemples, the Worship of Hung kings in Phu Th o, and the Art ofDon Ca Tai Tu music and song in southern Vietnam.
Thefour documentary items highlighted by the Memory of the World list arestone stele records of royal examinations of the Le and Mac Dynasties(1442-1779), wood blocks of the Nguyen Dynasty, Buddhist wood blocks atVinh Nghiem Pagoda and royal administrative records of the NguyenDynasty.
In addition, eight world biosphere reserves havebeen designated in the country since 2000, encompassing over 3 millionhectares of diverse marine and terrestrial regions: Can Gio (2000), CatTien (2001), Cat Ba archipelago (2004), the Red River Delta (2004), KienGiang (2006), western Nghe An (2007), Cu Lao Cham-Hoi An (2009) and MuiCa Mau (2009).-VNA
Each time arecognition is made, Vietnam has the chance to promote its nationaltreasure to the world, thus getting more international help for theconservation of its heritage as well as drawing more visitors to thecountry.
According to UNESCO statistics, morethan one billion tourists visit world heritage sites each year. InVietnam, the number of visitors to world heritage sites has also shownsignificant increases over the years. The complex of Hue monument in theancient imperial city of Hue and Ha Long Bay in the northern coastalprovince of Quang Ninh are now seeing two millions of visitors a yearcompared to some tens of thousands in the years of their inscription(1993 and 1994, respectively). Another site, the Hoi An ancient town inthe central province of Quang Nam draws an average 1.5 million visitors ayear.
The number of visitors to the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty in thecentral province of Thanh Hoa rocketed from just several thousand tomore than 60,000 a year after it was recognised as a World CulturalHeritage site in 2011. The increasing flow of tourists has helpeddevelop tourism and related sectors, creating jobs and income for localresidents.
At the same time, the Vietnamesegovernment has issued a range of legal documents regulating themanagement, conservation and upgrading of the national heritage ingeneral and recognised world heritage items in particular. Severalmaster plans on conserving heritage sites have been built andimplemented, including a 1,284 billion VND (61.1 million USD) plan to2020 for the Hue complex and an environmental protection scheme to 2020with a vision to 2030 for Ha Long Bay.
The UNEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) together withmany international organisations have provided valuable assistance bothtechnically and financially to Vietnam in restoration and conservationwork.
However, besides the benefits, manyproblems also arose regarding how to properly conserve the heritagewhile making good use of it for socio-economic development.
The country is short of finance for the work since conservationactivities requires a large sum of money. Meanwhile, a dearth ofprofessional and foreign language skills of the personnel along with aninflux of visitors to recognised heritage sites is also deemed asproblematic.
At a recentworkshop on developing a strategy to promote Vietnam’s World Heritage,Deputy Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage Nong Quoc Thanhstressed that UNESCO recognition was not intended to develop tourism butrather to instill the sense of responsibility among governments andcommunities to preserve and uphold the values of the heritage.
A representative from the UNESCO office said that by making good useof promotional techniques and communication tools, Vietnam couldinfluence visitors’ behaviour at heritage sites and engage the communityin heritage protection.
The eight cultural and natural WorldHeritage sites in Vietnam are the Complex of Hue Monument (recognisedin 1993), Ha Long Bay (1994), Hoi An Ancient Town (1999), My SonSanctuary (1999), Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (2003), theCentral Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi (2010),the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty (2011) and the Trang An Landscape Complex(2014).
Those inscribed in the list of the intangiblecultural heritage of humanity are Nha Nhac (court music), the Space ofgong culture, Ca Tru singing, Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk songs, Xoansinging of Phu Tho province, Giong festival of Phu Dong and Soctemples, the Worship of Hung kings in Phu Th o, and the Art ofDon Ca Tai Tu music and song in southern Vietnam.
Thefour documentary items highlighted by the Memory of the World list arestone stele records of royal examinations of the Le and Mac Dynasties(1442-1779), wood blocks of the Nguyen Dynasty, Buddhist wood blocks atVinh Nghiem Pagoda and royal administrative records of the NguyenDynasty.
In addition, eight world biosphere reserves havebeen designated in the country since 2000, encompassing over 3 millionhectares of diverse marine and terrestrial regions: Can Gio (2000), CatTien (2001), Cat Ba archipelago (2004), the Red River Delta (2004), KienGiang (2006), western Nghe An (2007), Cu Lao Cham-Hoi An (2009) and MuiCa Mau (2009).-VNA
