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VIETNAM’S CULINARY DELIGHTS
But once inundated by the aromatic steam rising from the
clear yet strikingly rich broth of boiled down marrow and
bone nectar, you become intrigued… and must know more.
Set in a deep bowl with rice noodles, served with a mini soup
ladle and chopsticks, pho primarily consists of broth, noodles
and thinly sliced raw beef that cooks in the hot soup. Tradi-
tional garnishes include basil, shallots, lime leaves, lime juice,
bean sprouts and peppers, added at your discretion. Warning:
This Vietnamese treasure is extremely addictive!”
A GASTRONOMY-BASED TOURISM BRAND
Not only
pho
, but many other Vietnamese dishes are
attractive to foreign tourists. Many have said the Viet-
namese gastronomy should be used to build a national
tourism brand.
Many nations have successfully built their nation-
al tourism brand based on their dishes, with Japan
(sushi), France (wine) and Italy (pizza and pasta)
notable among them. Early this year, Thailand
kicked-off its first Thailand Culinary World Chal-
lenge to attract foreign tourists via its traditional
dishes. Chefs from 15 nations joined this event.
At the recent Defining Vietnam’s Tourism
Brand conference, many experts and travel
companies said food should be selected which
can best help establish Vietnam’s national tour-
ism brand.
“Currently, we are still struggling to choose
the highlights for the Vietnam tourism brand.
I think we should select cuisine as the brand
name. One of the world’s leading marketing
experts Philip Kotler once suggested ‘Viet Nam
- the world’s kitchen’, and I think that would be
very apt,” said Nguyen Quoc Ky, general director
of Viettravel.
“Vietnam’s tourism slogan should be ‘Vietnam
– cuisine of the world’ or ‘Vietnam – spices of the
world’,” he suggests.
Tourism expert Florian Sengstschmid has said
that Vietnam is home to many famous dishes loved by
foreigners: “Thus, cuisines are an advantage that should
be used by Vietnam to promote its tourism globally. Cui-
sine is a cultural value to communicate at the lowest cost.”
Nguyen Duc Son, Richard Moore Associates’ branding
strategy director, underscored the importance of food here:
“Gastronomy is one of Vietnam’s advantages and it should be
used by authorities to show off to the world. However, it is
important to choose the most outstanding dish to be used as
a symbol for the national tourism brand. This dish must truly
be what foreign folk link with their enjoyment of Vietnam.”
Meanwhile, Vietnam Association of Hotels chairwoman
Do Thi Hong Xoan said a strong vision is needed to pursue
this target: “To make cuisine become a tourism brand, we
should have strategies, solutions and specific programmes on
developing the country’s culinary culture.”
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