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blares headlines that set the tone for
how the rest of the world sees Vietnam
in a political light, but politics no longer
has much of an impact on why travel-
lers might or might not put Vietnam on
their bucket list. That was not true 15
years ago. Then, for many people in the
West, Vietnam was still more the name
of a war than a country, but the war, at
last, has drifted from the mind-sets of
most in the West.
There’s no question that thanatour-
ism, or dark tourism, is a pre-occupa-
tion for some travellers. To wit, look
at the traffic Cambodia has made of
its killing fields. But Vietnam’s so-called
dark assets are a diminishing part of its
appeal. Today, say the word Vietnam
in the West, and you’re going to sum-
mon palm trees and sandy beaches, the
imperial assets of Old Hue, the timeless
charms of Hoi An’s Old Quarter and
Hanoi’s 36 Streets, the marvels of Ha-
long Bay, and the mysterious highland
reaches at Sapa and in the southern
highlands. In short, people today think
of Vietnam what Vietnam wants them
to think of the country.
They also think of the food. In New
York City, people talk about their fa-
vorite pho shop, and the best place to
pick up a banh mi sandwich. Everyone
knows banh mi in the Big Apple. In-
dulging in Vietnam’s rather sumptuous,
culinary appeal is why so many people
want to come to Vietnam.
“When Marcel (Isaak, executive
chef at the Hanoi Press Club) and I col-
laborated with several others on a book
about Vietnamese cuisine in the 1990s
- Food of Vietnam: Authentic Recipes
from the Heart of Indochina - Western-
ers could barely pronounce pho,” said
Kurt Walter, general manager of Apple
Tree Group’s hospitality properties. “To-
day, we can’t believe how much travel-
lers know about Vietnamese cuisine and
how much they want to talk about the
flavours in a good bowl of bun bo Hue,
and nem cuon and how to achieve the
proper yin and yang balance in a dish!”
This, then, is the predominant story
that the media is telling about Vietnam
today, of a country with a cuisine more
fabulous than most of its neighbors, a
people so dynamic you’ve got to meet
them, and a sophistication that is rip-
ening faster than a pomelo on a tree
without ghosts.
Where the challenges are
There are challenges, of course. The
visa situation is still a major problem,
and one that’s been compounded by the
doubling of fees recently. Travelers don’t
know why the fees have gone up, and
they do know how easy it is to get into
places like Cambodia and Thailand. That’s
hurting Vietnam’s image abroad.
Furthermore, there’s no real coordi-
nated interaction between the interna-
tional media and the country’s tourism
authorities. It’s like one recent travel
writer from the United States said to
me recently after we set up a press trip
for her. “I can go to Thailand any day of
the week, and write about its spas and
beaches. Thailand’s outreach to media
is that good. But in New York, nobody
has any idea where to turn, officially,
if you’ve got an opportunity to write
about Vietnam.
Nearly ten years ago, I wrote a story
for the New York Times travel section
that carried the headline: ‘A Former En-
emy Rolls Out the Welcome Mat.’ Even
then, the country had moved beyond
the morning, and my story reported on
the emergence of high-end luxury ac-
commodation, a trend’s that’s ongoing as
the industry capitalises on the capitalists
who know they have to visit Vietnam.
“We love meeting people for the
first time,” said John Gardner, the gen-
eral manager of the Caravelle Hotel.
“We’re really keen on travellers, of
course. But the people we really want
to see are the people who come back
again and again.”
Therein lies the rub. Vietnam is a
fixture on the international traveller’s
bucket list. Savvy travellers know they
have to come here. They know they
have to see the Temple of Literature,
and the Marble Mountains, and eat
great street food. What they don’t know
is that they have to come back.
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La Residence Hotel