The exploration and proposal for attaining tourist satisfaction, the case study of hanoi

The study is going to find the answers for four main questions: “How does the current development situation o f Hanoi tourism satisfy the demand o f international tourists in term of tou

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The graduation thesis for the degree of

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THE CASE STUDY OF HANOI

HANOI

t^-RADUATJOA) TWeSOS Nguyen Hong Van

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

ABSTRACT I

STATEMENT OF AU TH ORSHIP 3

ACKNOW LEDGEM ENT 4

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 5

I Introduction 5

II Research significance 9

III Literature review 10

III 1 Customer satisfaction/ consumer behavior 10

111.2 Customer satisfaction in tourism industry: tourist satisfaction 11

111.3 Why is it important to satisfy the custom ers? 14

IV Research m ethod 18

IV 1 Research objectives 19

IV.2 Research questions 20

IV.3 M ethodology 23

V C onclusion 30

CHAPTER 2: THE CURRENT SITUATION OF TOURIST SATISFACTION & EXPLANATIONS FOR HANOI TO U R ISM 32

I Strengths and opportunities for developing Hanoi tourism 33

1.1 The advantage o f being the capital city o f V ietnam 34

1.2 The advantages o f roadway to other p rovinces 35

1.3 The advantages o f culture, history, and old architecture, green and dynamic c ity 35

1.4 The advantages o f human resource 36

1.5 Being one of the safest cities in the w orld 36

1.6 The advantages o f human resource for developing its tourism sector 37

II The weaknesses and threats o f Hanoi tourism 37

<^'RADU^TJOA) T f-\BSOS Nguyen Hong Van

11.3 The hotel system in H anoi 52

11.4 The problems with traffic of H anoi 53

11.5 The lack o f unification in managing Hanoi tourist companies 54

11.6 Evaluation o f price 54

11.7 Lack o f coordination with related sectors 55

11.8 Inappropriate tourism development 56

III Analysis o f the surveyed tourist structure 58

III 1 Purpose o f staying 58

111.2 Length o f staying 59

111.3 Traveling composition 59

111.4 Tourists’ background 60

111.5 Plan and tourists’ information sources 61

IV Conclusion 65

CHAPTER 3: PROPOSALS FOR ATTAINING TOURIST SATISFACTION TOWARDS HANOI TOURISM 68

I Some proposals for Hanoi Administration o f Tourism 68

1.1 Being the promotional organization 68

1.2 Controlling the operation o f tourist com panies 70

1.3 Coordinating with other sectors 71

1.4 Making assignments and inspection 72

II Some proposals for diversifying tourism products in H anoi 73

11.1 For cultural and historical tourism products 74

11.2 Sightseeing and countryside visits 76

11.3 MICE tourism 77

11.4 Multi-purpose tourism 78

11.5 Tourism for shopping purpose 78

11.6 More entertainment activities 79

11.7 More new and attractive products 79

III Some proposals for tourist companies in Hanoi 82

III 1 Creating a professional working w ay 82

ỠRADUATỮOA) T h\(£S JS Nguyên Hổng Vân

111.3 Developing potential tourism 83

111.4 Coordinating together in the integration 84

111.5 Coordination for the image of H an o i 84

IV Some proposals for the management o f hotels in Hanoi 85

IV 1 Upgrading the hotel infrastructure 85

IV.2 Discount policy in the low season 85

IV.3 Quality concentration 86

V Some proposals for training people working in Hanoi to u rism 86

V 1 For hotel staffs 86

V.2 For staffs o f tourist companies 87

V.3 More vocational training schools 88

VI Conclusion 89

THE FINAL CONCLUSION OF THE STUD Y 90

APPENDIX 94

BIBLIOGRAPHY 116

GRyYDlAATJON t h s s j s Nguyén Hong Van

A B ST R A C T

At present, many people said that Vietnam tourism has a lot of opportunities to develop: beautiful nature, the abundance o f historical and cultural sites, hospitable people, etc, which can turn out to be tourism resources However, the exploration and development o f tourism are not proportional to what it possesses According to statistics, Vietnam has not attracted a lot o f tourists’ spending as it should be in comparison with other neighboring countries Moreover, the number of international tourists returning to Vietnam after the first time is said to be so low The question is figured out: “Are tourists dissatisfied with our Vietnam tourism?”

Answering the above question is also finding the way for developing Vietnam tourism, reaching its target o f tourist satisfaction

Due to the scope o f a graduation thesis and the availability o f documents to the writer,

the thesis will take the case study of Hanoi tourism as the typical representative of Vietnam tourism With the analysis of Hanoi tourism context and the satisfaction level

o f international tourists towards Hanoi tourism, the thesis is going to explore the causes

o f the current tourism situation When the problems and their roots have been realized, the thesis will give proposals for improving the situation

The study is going to find the answers for four main questions: “How does the current development situation o f Hanoi tourism satisfy the demand o f international tourists in term of tours and services, infrastructure, human resource, etc?”, “What are the expectations that the international tourists have before coming to Hanoi?”, “What is the satisfaction level o f international tourists towards tourism services in Hanoi and how does it affect on the development o f the capital’s tourism?”, “What are measures for attaining tourist satisfaction that can be applied for Hanoi tourism?”

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In general, besides the strengths and opportunities to develop, Hanoi tourism has had a lot of weaknesses and threats which turn to be difficulties for its development For the common target as what has been pointed out by Hanoi Administration o f Tourism:

“tourist satisfaction”, the study is going to figure out proposals for related authorities, organizations as well as individuals for improving the situation and developing tourism sector o f Hanoi

The main text o f the thesis has totally 27,940 words covered in 90 pages

TWëSJS Nguyên Hong Vân

S T A T E M E N T O F A U T H O R S H IP

“Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis or any other degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text

GRADiAATJOfij Tiesos Nguyên Hồng Vân

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T

The thesis has been completed with the support from many people:

The thesis has received the great support from the supervisor, Mr Nguyễn Đức Hoa Cương, Lecturer o f Faculty o f Management and Tourism, Hanoi University He has supported the writer to define the thesis topic, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of selecting the thesis topic Mr Cương is also the one who guided and supervised the duration o f thesis writing The thesis could be completed partly owing to his correction in some ideas expression

The thesis was also completed with the help from the lecturers of Faculty of Management and Tourism, Hanoi University, especially Ms Bùi Thanh Hương, Ms Phạm Lê Thu Nga, Mr Nguyễn Cao Cường, Mr Nguyễn Anh Quân The lecturers have given the general guidance and supported tools for doing the research

The research has received the enthusiastic support from international English speaking tourists in four main places: Museum o f Ethnology, Noi Bai International Airport, Thanglong Water Puppet Theatre and Temple o f Literature in completing questionnaires and semi-structural interviews

The research has also been supported by the managers o f some tourists companies and hotels in Hanoi, the Head o f Travel Management and Promotion Development Department o f Hanoi Administration o f Tourism in completing interview questions either directly or through email

The study was finished with the help o f the authorities in four researched places: Museum of Ethnology, Noi Bai International Airport, Thanglong Water Puppet Theatre and Temple o f Literature

All o f these above people have made the great contribution to the completion o f this thesis

G R A D U A T IO N T\A C SJS Nguyen Hong Van

C H A P T E R 1: IN T R O D U C T IO N

I Introduction

Tourist satisfaction, these words are daily mentioned by newspapers, Internet and other media In fact, it is the final goal every organization operating in tourism industry directs towards Tourist satisfaction can be reached when tourists feel happy with services they pay for Having been simply defined, tourism is for traveling and experiencing, and as being proven, tourists are willing to come back to the destinations they like More than that, tourists will not keep the experiences themselves but share with their friends and relatives, so they accidentally become the ambassadors o f tourist destinations However, tourists are not always satisfied with the services received, so their post-behavior is a considerable matter for all tourism service providers Furthermore, tourists are very different in demands, some are alocentric tourists who like to experience new things, even adventure while others like to travel to familiar places to experience the “home away from home” atmosphere The research is going to explore tourist satisfaction through its two main effects: keeping tourists coming back and sharing ideas with tourists’ relatives and friends The word “tourist” using in the research is short for international tourists In order to make it a deep evaluation, the research is just going to analyze the satisfaction level of international tourists within the scope of Hanoi, the capital city o f Vietnam

Why was Hanoi chosen to make tourist satisfaction research?

Firstly, Hanoi is the capital o f Vietnam, a city that has been judged to have a lot of tourism potentials: Hanoi is rich in cultural values, namely it has a lot o f museums, temples, pagodas and other valuable historical relics Additionally, Hanoi is affluent in manpower since the capital’s population is more than three million people; especially local residents are very friendly and hospitable Importantly, Hanoi is the gate o f the

no change Because the tourism products are poor and monotonous, so many international travel agents have forgone Hanoi to take tourists straightly to Da Nang, Nha Trang and Hochiminh City3 Many tourists said that it was some poor attractions

in Hanoi and poor services that make international tourists not come back Hanoi

According to many tour guides, the lack of parking areas at historical sites and shopping places makes tourist not come back For example, Korean tourists are very fond of visiting Quan Thanh Temple; however, there is no parking area nearby

1 Vietnam Tourism Review, No 8, July l ? h 2006

2 Hanoinet, 18/8/2006 9:17:00 PM.

(SRADWATJON Tiesos Nguyễn J-Cô'ng Vân

dissatisfaction results Many interviewed tourists complained that they were followed

by beggars and disturbed by street hawkers when visiting Ngoc Son Temple, Hoan Kiem Lake and surrounding quarters so they had to cancel their visit, etc

The above are some o f typical problems explaining why international tourists do not have good image o f Hanoi tourism The research is, therefore, going deeply to find out more reasons for the situation and measures for solving it

Additionally, Hanoi also defines itself to develop tourism a key industry of the capital’s economy So an exploration into tourist satisfaction can help the city’s tourism sector develop in the right directions and reach its targeted objectives

To some extents, Hanoi is the typical representative o f Vietnam, the city holds specific traits o f Vietnam inside it, Hanoi can be seen as Vietnam in miniature So making the tourist satisfaction research on Hanoi tourism is also making it for Vietnam tourism in general Hanoi Administration o f Tourism (HNAT) has set the tourist satisfaction as its target From the two important effects of tourist satisfaction on Hanoi tourism, the research is going to focus on giving constructive suggestions for building tourist satisfaction with Hanoi city Explanatorily speaking, the cost o f attaining a tourist to a destination is much less than that of attracting a new one and the satisfied tourist accidentally becomes a volunteer ambassador for introducing the destination to other tourists Therefore, creating tourist satisfaction is ultimately important to Hanoi tourism

Unlike other production sectors, customers o f tourism businesses are special International tourists may originate from very far places so their needs to be understood and sympathized are high Moreover, tourism products are things tourists can not see before they come to enjoy them, so an exploration into tourists’ likes and dislikes can help tourism businesses understand what tourists really need and provide them with appropriate products Understanding tourists’ demand is the best way leading to tourist satisfaction and hence gaining competitive capability in the market, especially when

GRA&IAATJON TWCSJS Nguyen Hong Van

the common business trend nowadays is to provide what tourists need on the base of the destination’s strengths but not to merely offer what we have

Eventually, the importance of tourist satisfaction is displayed clearly but there are not official published documents o f building tourist satisfaction for the capital city of Hanoi Therefore, the writing is done in an attempt to contribute a voice in the matter

o f developing Hanoi tourism

The research o f tourist satisfaction with tourism services in Hanoi is an interesting but hard work It needs time, attempts and patience as well The helpfulness of tourists also depends on the way they were asked The research narrowed down in the area o f Hanoi will make the study analysis deeper and its reflection clearer so that readers can understand the current situation o f tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism services more accurately

As being displayed in the title “the exploration and proposals for attaining tourist satisfaction, the case study of Hanoi”, the thesis was being structured as the

following:

First of all, from theoretical understanding o f tourist satisfaction and its importance, the gap will be displayed in comparison with the real situation o f Hanoi tourism found out from all sources including primary, secondary data and the writer’s observation as well Through the current situation, the main issues withdrawn are what are good and not good of Hanoi tourism

After displaying the current situation of Hanoi tourism, the writer’s responsibility is to define the reasons causing the situation In order for the readers to access the problem easily, the reasons will be categorized into the objective and subjective ones

Suggested solutions will be the last main part o f the problem By analyzing the related matters involving in tourist satisfaction o f Hanoi tourism, the thesis will go into some proposals for attaining tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism, encouraging tourists

d R s \D lA A T J O /\l T t- té S J S Nguyên Hong Van

to repeat their visit and motivating the new ones through word o f mouth marketing method

II Research significance

According to the latest report o f Hanoi Government to the Central Economic Committee of Vietnam, the tourism sector has contributed 8.4 percent to Hanoi GDP Tourism is a potential sector of Hanoi, it promises to bring along a large amount of foreign currency Though this has been defined, measures for developing the city’s tourism are not taken strongly The success o f tourism sector o f Hanoi is proven through the amount o f tourists coming to the city every year, the amount of money they spend in Hanoi, their satisfaction level towards our products and services so that it will decide whether they will come back or not All o f those matters are closely related to one another and altogether lead to the common defined target o f Hanoi tourism - tourist satisfaction However, from identifying the target to completing it is a large gap and needs a lot o f time and attempts to fulfill Hanoi can be said to be the significance of Vietnam since Vietnam sees herself miniature in Hanoi, the city brings inside it special characters o f Vietnam When tourists come to Vietnam, Hanoi is their first destination

In tourists’ side, Hanoi, the capital of thousand year o f civilization, contains precious cultural values needing to be explored In the city’s tourism sector’s side, Hanoi needs

to signify its tourism resources, turn these resources into the strengths for developing its tourism That is one o f the reasons Hanoi is chosen to be the object o f this research Whereas, the research focuses on the exploration o f tourist behavior towards Hanoi’s tourism situation, trying to justify and recommend some solutions for it By this way, tourism is narrowed down to a specific aspect

Tourism has been emphasized to be the key sector o f the city’s economy; however, its contribution to the development o f Hanoi does not come as expected though it has a lot

o f potentials and conditions to develop Therefore, the research is done in an attempt to contribute to the tourism development through analyzing the on-going specific situation The expected results o f the research are measures which can be taken to solve

^radm atjoa) t w b s d s Nguyen Hong Van

the problems The research is carried out with the efforts to improve tourism services

so that Hanoi tourism will gradually meet tourists’ demand Within a medium long scope o f the research, the study was conducted with international tourists who can speak English only, so the word “tourists” mentioned in the research should be understood as “international tourists” Logically and empirically, tourist satisfaction is the largest target that Hanoi tourism is directed to, in the last main part o f the study, some proposals will be presented for building tourist satisfaction to Hanoi tourism

III Literature review

Before the research, there are a lot o f writings on tourist satisfaction appearing somewhere However, these are separate writings and there is still not any official document on this matter o f Hanoi tourism In order to emphasize the importance and the necessity to build tourist satisfaction, the literature review is going to synthesize some ideas collected from existing writings

III.I Customer satisfaction/ consumer behavior

Customer satisfaction is the extent to which a product perceived performance matches

a bu y er's expectation If the product’s performance falls short o f expectations, the buyer is dissatisfied If performance matches or exceeds expectations, the buyer is satisfied or delighted Customers are different in age, religion, interest so their product performance perceptions are also different In reality, one customer can satisfy with one feature o f the product but dissatisfy with other features, their demands are always changing with their age and their money Some customers like a product because o f its endurance whereas others may highly appreciate the product’s appearance, some like the product’s functions while others like its color People o f different ages may have different appreciations towards a product People o f different occupation need different products for their career, clothes are an example, seeing their clothes can help guess their job Also, people ranking different positions in society may have different requirement o f products because products can help them to state themselves Moreover, people often have different demands for different products Products can be categorized

^ r a d w t V t j o a ) t w e s j s Nguyen Hong Van

into different types: consumer goods, luxurious goods, the levels of customer demand for those goods are, therefore, not the same Some people seem to be happy with consumer goods while others have higher requirement for not only consumer but luxurious ones So making customers satisfied is a hard work

In comparison with customer satisfaction, consumer behavior is a larger concept Customer satisfaction is the positive result o f consumer behavior when the product needs o f customers are met Consumer behavior is the reaction o f customer towards a product; it is a considerable matter for product providers To some extents, consumer behavior is like a system of customers’ actions, from decision to buy, price paid, reaction after using the product Reaction o f customers after using a product is very important because it decides if the customer is going to buy that product or not Using the product is a time o f testing if the product can get loyalty o f the customer, otherwise, they will shift to other products If consumers feel satisfied with the product they had used, they will come back to use it and vice versa

In summary, customer satisfaction can be reached when customers’ perceived performance meet their expectations of the product Customer satisfaction is the final goal o f every product provider Customer satisfaction is also the cause for good behavior because when being satisfied with the products, they will not only come back

to buy but also tell others about the product, and in marketing, this is a believable channel

III 2 Customer satisfaction in tourism industry: tourist satisfaction.

Tourism is, by its nature, a service rather than a product which may have a considerable effect on consumer behavior So tourism product is any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership o f anything4 Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product

4 Definition o f tourism product, John Swarbrooke & Susan Horner, Consumer Behavior in Tourism.

^RADUyVTTJOA) Tiesos Nguyễn Hồng Vân

Tourism is a special business in which services are in the place o f products and have their own specific characteristics In tourism industry, tourists are customers who purchase and use tourism products, so tourist satisfaction is understood as customer satisfaction in the broadened view Therefore, tourist satisfaction can be defined as the extent to which tourists are satisfied with what they are served like tours, services, attractions, etc Tourism products consist o f things offered for tourists’ relaxation, meeting tourists’ demand for traveling and experiencing The satisfaction or dissatisfaction o f tourists can be reached depending on tourism service’s performance, whether they meet or fail to meet tourists’ expectations

The intangible nature o f the service offered will have a considerable effect on the consumers during both decision making process and post- purchasing process

Empirically, there have been many models o f consumer behavior which have been adapted for tourism like Andreason model o f consumer behavior, Nicosia model, Mathieson and Wall model, Gilbert model 5(all models can be seen in Appendices part) These four models have shown a common matter surrounding behavior o f tourists that can be generalized with three main issues: pre-purchase issues, purchase issues and post-purchase issues These three issues are proportional to three steps in which service providers must have proper strategies for satisfying tourists, the target of service providers is to satisfy customers in every step they take Among these three steps, the last one seems not only important for the time o f purchasing but necessary and closely related to the next time o f purchasing that service From consumer’s perspective, the question raised is “does the product provide pleasure or perform its intended functions?” and “how is the product eventually disposed of, and what are the environmental consequences o f this act?” From the marketer’s perspective, the following questions need to be answered “what determine whether a consumer will be satisfied with a product and whether he or she will buy it again?” and “does this person

'Figure 3.1, Figure 3.2, Figure 3.7, Figure 3.8, Chapter 3, Consumer Behavior in T ourism , Linacre House,

CRADUATCJOA) th e s js Nguyên Hổng Vân

tell others about his/ her experiences with the product and affect their purchase decision?” The last step o f the general model has defined the issues for this study

However, in order to answer these issues, the two above steps also need taking into consideration and they are the important pedals for the target o f “tourist satisfaction”.Mentioning the consumption process, one thing can be withdrawn: gap between tourists’ expectations and their performance perceptions The gap is created between the times from pre-purchase to post-purchase period The less the gap is, the more satisfaction consumers have towards products and services offered and vice versa Therefore, in order to attain customer satisfaction, the providers must reduce the gap, turn what customers expect into reality, and the best way for doing that is to explore their needs, wants and demands

It would be noticed that the gap between tourists’ expectation and their real experiences is also caused by the improper promotion Promotion in tourism or in any business is very important However, promotion should be done at the level that will not desperate tourists when they really experience the tourism products and services

tourism products, so they felt really disappointed when they came to experience those products For example, it will be not proper if a tourist company launched out abroad a promotional program for Hanoi tourism saying that Hanoi is the heaven for tourists to buy electronic products or the centre for health tourism like spas The tourists who believed this kind of promotional program might expect a lot about those things Therefore, if they come to Hanoi with the purpose for enjoying those products and services, they would feel like being cheated by the promotional program The consequence o f this kind o f over-exaggerated promotion would be very serious The feeling o f being cheated and dissatisfaction would be the reason that tourists never come back Hanoi Moreover, tourists would not only keep the bad experience for themselves, they would share it with others and that prevent the potential tourists to Hanoi

¿ÍRADUATCJON T ^ S S J S Nguyén J-CÓng Van

Another example with the smaller scale of a company could be taken from a real story

of a French tourist who had joined a tour of a tourist company in Hanoi (for the subtle reason, the company’s name would be incognito) The tourist company had promoted

to tourists an advertisement that tourists would have 20% discount if they went in a large group o f more than 15 people but they actually did not do the commitment when the number o f tourists in the gathered group is 20 people Furthermore, the company tried to ask tourists for more money from the raised products The tourist said that he really had a bad experience and the first thing he would do after the tour is to tell his friends not to take tours o f that company any more, he also said that he felt like being stupidly cheated by the company and really disappointed about the company

Therefore, though making the products attractive to tourists is very important, promoting should be in the level that will not make tourists over-expected so that the gap between what they expect and their practical experiences will not so big The products, at that level, would be more believable for tourists

III.3 Why is it important to satisfy the customers?

basic groups: new customers and retained customers It usually costs more to attract new customers than to retain current ones, and the best way to retain current customers

is to keep them satisfied Satisfied customers buy a product again, talk favorably to others about the products, pay less attention to competing brands and advertisements and buy other products from the company6

As checked in many studies, a satisfied customer tells three people about a good product experience, whereas, a dissatisfied customer gripes to eleven people So, the power o f word o f mouth in business can be said to be very strong

For such a sensitive sector as tourism, tourist satisfaction is the goal that all services providers target to.

6 John Swartbrook and Susan Horner, Consumer behavior in Tourism, Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford

^RADUyYTJOAJ T H S S J S Nguyên “ Kong Van

When tourist satisfaction is reached, it leads to positive word of mouth recommendations that satisfied tourists transfer to their friends and relatives which in turn bring in new tourists to service providers This is an understandable matter because of specific characteristics of tourism products Tourism services are intangible and inseparable products, tourists can not value before experiencing them Therefore, the most believable medium is through stories or description o f their friends and relatives What have been heard from friends and relatives are the motivations rousing the curiosity o f potential tourists, encouraging them to come to the destination

If satisfied customers come to buy products they like again, tourists come back to destinations where they are satisfied with provided services Tourist satisfaction, hence, brings another important effect: it creates repeat tourists by satisfying them with their first experiencing o f the tourism products By this way, tourist satisfaction brings a steady source o f income with no need for extra marketing expenditure One study showed that 98% o f satisfied tourists are certain to come back to destinations because they want to see any change with where they were impressed7 Also, time gap for their repeat visit depends on the tourism products that tourist destinations provide, for example, tourists will come to the destinations for shopping purpose more frequently than the ones for sightseeing purpose However, one thing can be firmly asserted that they will come back in their opportunity So making tourists satisfied with tourism products, providers accidentally create a huge advantage for their own business

Last but not least is the comfort that tourist satisfaction brings to the destinations as well as their components: service providers Normally, dealing with complaints is expensive, time consuming and bad for the reputation o f the destinations and service providers Moreover, compensation payments can cost much So, in stead o f spending time, money and attempts on dealing with the problems o f tourist dissatisfaction, destinations and tourism service providers are trying to put tourist satisfaction as their ultimate target to go on

7Extracted from “why do tourists come back?, the m aster degree o f Ms Keiko Matsushino, the lecture o f Osaka University, Japan

G R A D U A TJO A ) T h \B S J S Nguyên Jiong Van

Although tourist satisfaction is not a new topic, there are not many serious documents writing on this matter, especially in Vietnam The exploration into such matter is going

to define satisfaction level of tourists towards tourism services they had experienced, how they value these services The services valued can be categorized into different sections as: hotel, tours, human resource, etc In addition, the exploration is also going

to figure out some personal features of tourists like their nationalities, gender, age, their habit o f spending, traveling interest, etc so that some related conclusions can be withdrawn The exploration also shows ideas o f tourism experts of the current situation and their program in dealing with building tourist satisfaction Experts, with their practical experiences, estimations and viewpoints from many sides are expected to give the objective and in-depth contributions

The exploration is an initial step for proposals of building tourist satisfaction; a complete one must contain some other followings:

Firstly, tourists must be impressed by tourism products offered Tourism products mentioned are common for anything that comes to tourists’ eyes so that they have an evaluation about that Depending on different needs o f different tourists, products offered to them must also be different For example, some tourists like to have a strange feeling that is different from their home whereas others want to have “home away from home” atmosphere In order to impress tourists is to understand their specific needs and satisfy them

Secondly, for a destination, tourist satisfaction can be reached mainly if all tourist companies in that destination operate in a unified manner so that tourists can trust on them Furthermore, the unified serving manner o f all tourist companies can contribute

to the reputation o f the destination Consequently, a reputable destination is very easy

to attract tourist attention

The important factor to build tourist satisfaction is to identify what make them satisfied and doing this requires a study o f tourists’ taste Nevertheless, tourists from different countries have different tastes, hence, in order to serve them well, services providers

ÖR A D MATJOM T-H B S O S Vguyên Kong Vân

must understand each of them Tourists coming from very far places must be very emotional if they are understood by others, this is one of the factors motivating them to come back

A literature search shows that, there is not much focus put on tourist satisfaction since services providers just look into the short termed revenues but they do not see the long termed ones That explains the existence o f bad behavior in serving tourists Many people whose business relates to tourism have in their mind the thinking that tourists just come for only once so they try to exploit tourists, their way o f serving must be said

to be the exploitation to tourists For example, the room price is charged so high though the services are not good that backpackers do not dare to come back Service quality and price are not relevant and tourists feel the services do not deserve for costs incurred

Consequently, tourists have to pay more than what they are actually served in term of quality For some people, tourists are like a lucrative mine for their quick exploitation Taking the case o f Temple of Literature as an example, some actors performing traditional opera asked tourists for money, they do not know that they unintentionally damaged the image o f traditional cultural values in tourists’ eyes That is also the consequence o f bad and inconsistent management o f the related authorities

As shown in a study, every tourist destination possesses multiple attributes that distinguish it from competing destinations, such as different climate, accessibility, architecture, relics and historical sites A potential traveler compares these attributes when deciding which destination to choose so that this comparison o f the characteristics o f a vacation destination and its attributes influence the tourists’ decision-making process The chosen destination must be the most compatible with tourists’ expectations, have less negative consequences, and be where an individual perceives the attributes satisfy his/her needs The destinations which satisfy the most are more likely to be considered and chosen in the traveling decision process Therefore, it is essential to analyze tourist satisfaction before developing tourism services

CRADUATJOA) TflÊSJS Nguyên Hong Vân

In a study of Professor George Stonehouse, University of Colorado, the USA, he has shown that tourists may be dissatisfied with the destination as a whole while satisfied with individual attributes o f the destination Consequently, marketers should identify tourist satisfaction with the individual attributes o f the destination, and not just the satisfaction with the total destination Furthermore, different attributes determine destination selection for different tourist markets Tourists from different countries may evaluate destination attributes differently, and their satisfaction level with these attributes may also be different Therefore, tourism service providers must understand clearly each market in order to serve them well

In order to analyze the case o f Hanoi tourism, the research has taken the references from the existing studies of other destinations Some studies have analyzed other destinations in terms o f their observable/ measurable (functional) and intangible (psychological) characteristics Besides, socio-demographic variables also determine the level o f tourist satisfaction It was found that the satisfaction that leads to returning decision o f tourists is positively related to income level, educational background and length of trip, party composition, expenditures and inclusive package arrangement Each study of tourist satisfaction made has shown its own results, different researchers have chosen different attributes for carrying out their studies

In inheriting positive points o f existing studies, the study on tourist satisfaction with Hanoi tourism will use both qualitative and measurable attributes categorized into four groups which will be specified in Methodology part

IV Research method

The research method part o f the study will go into displaying three small main parts: research objectives, research questions and methodology

T W B S J S Nguyễn Hồng Vân

IV 1 Research objectives

The research has been carried out seriously with an attempt to contribute to the target

of Hanoi tourism in gaining more tourist satisfaction The main objective o f the study

is to contribute to the formulation o f strategic directions that can help Hanoi tourism to overcome the current situation and develop it worthy of its stature Hanoi tourism must develop proportionally to its advantages o f nature, history, people and architecture.The research will go to make a deep analysis of international tourist satisfaction, specify and compare it with customer satisfaction because tourism is a special industry and its customers are, therefore, special, too So far, tourist satisfaction has not been understood with its full meanings because tourists are easy changing customers and tourism services are special products with high competitiveness Tourists can not see quality and performance o f tourism services before they actually experience them So what they were told by relatives and friends are very important

Those matters seem to be certain but can not be seen completely in any document, the study expected to help the readers have broader understandings on this matter

With that purpose, the study is going to explore into the satisfaction level of international tourists with tourism services in Hanoi, figure out what is lacked o f the capital’s tourism and what actions need to be done to improve the situation The exploration is just the initial step from that problems can be enlightened and clueing for specific proposals

The study has chosen Hanoi as the researched object for two main reasons Firstly, Hanoi is a typical representative o f Vietnam tourism, it brings inside almost specific traits o f Vietnam tourism: basically cultural values Secondly, selecting Hanoi for studying is a way o f making the analysis o f the city’s tourism development deeper and more concise because the writer can conduct the interviews and questionnaires easier

It is also more convenient to reach information from the place that the writer is staying

in This study will contribute to enlarge the academic knowledge in the little researched area: Hanoi tourism with inbound tourists who could speak English The study will

G R A D U A T JO A ) T A S S O S Nguyên Hong Van

analyze the conditions for successfully constructing and implementing the proposals of gaining tourist satisfaction to Hanoi Furthermore, it will make recommendations for the research on this topic The social objective o f this study is to provide people working in tourism sector with knowledge on gaining tourist satisfaction Additionally, the case study o f Hanoi tourism could provide lessons for contrasting, developing and applying the same strategic directions for other cities and provinces with certain complied conditions

IV 2 Research questions

Looking at the main research question, there are three elements that need clarification First o f all, the research put its concentration on exploring the satisfaction level of international tourists towards tourism products and services in Hanoi From the satisfaction level, the research is going to find out the current development o f Hanoi tourism and how tourism development contributes to the economy o f Hanoi The study

o f tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism is to figure out what is good and what is not good o f Hanoi tourism so that it can attract or discourage tourists to come back These two first elements are on exploration o f Hanoi tourism context have led to the last one: proposals or recommendations for building tourist satisfaction The proposals will be stated in the form of measures that can be taken to gain tourist satisfaction to Hanoi tourism The measures taken also aim at reaching the target of retaining and attracting international tourists to Hanoi

In clarification, the main research question can be divided into four small research questions:

1 ) How does the current development situation o f Hanoi tourism satisfy the demand o f international tourists in term o f tours and services, infrastructure, human resource, etc?

2) What are the expectations that the international tourists have before coming

to Hanoi?

GRADUATION T-HÊSaS Nguyên Hong Vân

3) What is the satisfaction level o f international tourists towards tourism services in Hanoi and how does it affect on the development of the capital’s tourism?

4) What are measures for attaining tourist satisfaction that can be applied for Hanoi tourism?

1 How does the current development o f Hanoi tourism satisfy the demand of international tourists in term o f tours, services, infrastructure and human resource, etc?

The research question can be placed in different categories Depending on the research’s aims, a distinction can be made between its descriptive or explanatory characters Applying for this research question, it has both two characters The development o f Hanoi tourism is quite a large view, however, the research just uses some indicators for signify it These indicators include statistics o f international tourists

to Hanoi, percentage o f tourists coming back to Hanoi every year, growth o f Hanoi tourism and how important it is to the capital’s economy

Then the explanatory part will explain good and bad points o f Hanoi tourism by analyzing its strengths and weaknesses In order to answer the first question, the study will find out the level o f tourist satisfaction towards different elements o f Hanoi tourism and how tourists values these elements

2 What are the expectations that the international tourists have before coming to Hanoi?

Normally, before coming to the destination, tourists often have an imagination o f that destination Always, tourists joining in packaged or self- organized tours will define what they will do at the destination They normally imagine about the people they will meet, places they will come, activities they will do, etc For different people, the expectations o f the destination will be different Particularly, tourists who have special

^R A D U A T JO M T-Hesos Nguyen Hổng Vân

demands often think about the destination they will go with the features that may satisfy them For example, tourists coming to Thailand for shopping purpose will have different expectations with tourists coming to Thailand on business According to a research, 95% tourists coming to Hanoi on holiday purpose hope to discover Hanoi culture, people, history and old-style architecture

Furthermore, the sources o f information that tourists get from are very important to form their expectation It is also one o f the determinant factors for the formation of tourists’ expectation of the products If the source o f information is more believable, the expectation o f tourists will be much closer to the real experience they will have when they come to enjoy the tourism products and services The more believable information will reduce the gap between what were promoted o f the destination and the true feelings o f tourists when coming to the destination Among many sources of information, the information from relatives and friends seem to be the most believable for tourists because tourism has a special characteristic: “intangibility” Tourists can not see and evaluate the tourism services beforehand, so they need the information from friends and relatives They are strongly affected by the evaluation o f friends and relatives about the tourism products and services and these could be the motivators for them to go or not So, tourist satisfaction also contributes to the formation o f the other tourists’ expectation of the tourism products For example, an interviewed tourists from France wanted to visit Hanoi, she would ask for the experiences from her friends who have ever come to Hanoi, the expectation o f the tourists o f Hanoi would be formed basing mainly on what she were told by her friends She said that what she really experienced were closed to what she had been told and she felt satisfied: Hanoi with the old quarters, a lot o f green trees and hospitable people, lots o f lakes

3 What is satisfaction level o f international tourists towards Hanoi tourism and how does it affect on the capital’s economy?

The third question aims at exploring how international tourists are satisfied with Hanoi tourism products So the research question has both explanatory and descriptive characters In order to survey satisfaction level o f tourists, the research will base on

C R A D U A T JO A ) T H S S J S Nguyen Hong Van

tourists’ evaluation of tourism services Additionally, the research question is for finding out some personal features of tourists such as their nationalities, occupation, age group, purpose of staying in Hanoi so that conclusions can be drawn for different types o f tourists

In order to answer the second question, 50 surveys were conducted with the population

o f 50 tourists who come from different countries and were randomly selected Tourists were asked to state their satisfaction level and difficulties they met during their staying

in Hanoi

The research will also be answered by analyzing effects o f tourist satisfaction on Hanoi tourism This analysis will be done with the results o f the combined methods: questionnaires, in-depth interviews, desk research and observation

By analyzing the satisfaction level of international tourists and its effects on Hanoi tourism, the research is going to withdraw factors that help motivate tourists to come back Hanoi These consist o f both objective and subjective factors that can be mentioned namely in the later parts o f the study

4 What are measures for attaining tourist satisfaction that can be applied for Hanoi tourism?

Answering this question is also solving the main problem o f the study The answer is for giving proposals to attain tourist satisfaction From the factors motivating tourists to come back Hanoi analyzed above, the last important part o f the research will be the proposals and recommendations for both attracting new tourists and retaining old ones

IV 3 Methodology

To find the answers to the research questions, the study is going to use a range o f tools Firstly, a literature review was carried out, which also provided theoretical background information on tourist satisfaction The literature review offered insights how related topics o f tourist satisfaction have been considered and made The literature study

CRADUATCJOA) Tw a S J S Nguyên Hong Van

included academic publications, news and articles from newspapers, magazines and online writings as well

Secondly, the study will go into the in-depth analysis o f secondary information on Hanoi tourism in order to discuss matters that have been raised The sources of information for the analysis will mostly from Internet, books, television, newspapers and magazines

From literature review and the analysis o f secondary information, the theoretical framework o f the topic will be realized for setting up the hypotheses for the primary

research The following hypotheses on tourist satisfaction in Hanoi are identified:

1) Tourists feel dissatisfied with the tours in Hanoi because they are too monotonous

2) Tourists feel dissatisfied with the tourist attractions in Hanoi because they are inappropriately maintained and they are bothered by people following tourists.3) Tourists are not satisfied because the local labor force is unskilled, inexperienced and bad in foreign languages

4) The number o f repeated tourists to Hanoi is less and less

5) The hotel system in Hanoi is more and more degrading

From these above hypotheses, the study will use questionnaires, interviews and the observations o f the writer in order to give the insights into tourist satisfaction to answer the research questions and hypothesis

The study was carried out using many instruments, namely:

1 Literature review

2 Analysis o f secondary information

GRADUATION THe S O S Nguyên Hong Vân

The study was carried out with a lot o f information from secondary sources The information comes mostly from Internet, newspapers, magazines and books, etc For Internet source, websites o f VNAT, HNAT seem to be believable sources, especially for statistics of number of tourist arrivals through years, periods The writings from many local and international websites are also main sources for the research, especially the writings o f keeping tourists satisfied and coming back a destination For newspapers source, Vietnam Tourism Review, Heritage, and Investment Review are three main sources Besides, any writings relating to the topic appearing in newspapers and magazines were also collected Books are important sources for information Also, the secondary information could be collected from tourism related programs on television like the speech o f tourism experts or the extract of a documentary film

The use of secondary data needs take two main considerations: the accuracy o f information and its relation to the topic studied This requires information to be newly updated and the contents must involve in tourist satisfaction Furthermore, the secondary information will be analyzed in combination with the primary data collected from questionnaires, interviews and observations

For its advantages, the secondary data are easier to reach and take less time to obtain than the primary one However, the disadvantages o f which are: sometimes, it is hard

to find the needed information, some information is unreachable When using the secondary data, there must notice of the validity o f the information and display the source within the text so that the opinion must be more truthful to the readers

3 Questionnaires:

During the research, fifty questionnaires were conducted to fifty tourists from different countries They are randomly selected tourists in four main places: Museum of Ethnology, Temple of Literature, Thanglong Water Puppet Theatre and Noibai Airport

at the time o f tourists’ departure

Tourists were selected from these places for some reasons Firstly, these are places that surveys are easy to be conducted and convenient for tourists to answer Tourists in

aRADUyVCJOAJ T-HS S D S Nguyên Hong Van

However, it has some considerable disadvantages For some tourists, they just fill in the questionnaires cursorily so the questionnaires’ result is not accurate as it should be For the case study o f Hanoi, the questionnaires were designed in English, so the tourists doing questionnaires are English speaking tourists only, the result, therefore, lacked of ideas o f non - speaking tourists

4 Interviews

The second method used in this study is in - depth interviews Interviewing is a way of surveying by directly asking the interviewees with semi-structural questionnaires Interviewees (the ones who are asked) will give the full answers and not just choose from multiple choices Interview questions are almost open-ended questions and require interviewees to think carefully before answering Unlike questionnaires, interview questions provide with more information, as well, the answers might be unpredictable and sub questions can be raised from the results o f asked questions For this type o f survey, the interviewer will directly come to ask for interviewees’ ideas Interviewing questions allow interviewees to give their own ides and these ideas are unlimited Normally, interview questions will take time o f interviewees because they need time for thinking before answering During time o f interviewing, sub questions may be raised and take more time to complete For the study o f tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism, in-depth interviews will be organized for both tourists and tourism experts

❖ Interviews for tourists

Like questionnaires, interviews for tourists were organized in four main places: Museum of Ethnology, Temple o f Literature, Noibai Airport and Thanglong Water Puppet Theatre However, because o f the nature o f interviews and tourists’ convenience, fewer interviews will be organized Tourists would be interviewed if they were really willing to answer and give comments During the study, 20 tourists have been chosen for interviewing, almost are helpful to answer and give their own ideas However, there were still some of them who just answered the main questions without

G R A D U A T IO N T ^ e S O S Nguyên Hổng Vân

extra comments When proposing tourists to do the questionnaire, they would be asked whether they had time and were willing to sit for an interview If the tourist agreed, an interviewed would be conducted Therefore, the tourists doing interviews were also the ones who did questionnaires The interview, therefore, can be so-called “a semi­structured interview”

Though doing interviews was time consuming, it helps the study get the full range and depth of information from tourists and clarify more tourists’ answers for the questionnaires For the place o f Noi Bai International Airport, it was necessary to ask for the permission from the Security Board o f the airport so that the interviews can be carried out without any intervention

There are around 10 questions for tourists (see Appendices) During the interviewing time, sub-questions can be raised and more information could be collect provided that tourists were willing to take part in the interview

❖ Interviews for experts of tourist companies

Besides the interviews for tourists, the interviews are also organized for tourism experts who have managerial position o f tourist companies, hotels and officials of Hanoi Administration o f Tourism These interviews were for collecting ideas of tourism experts and their insight view o f tourist satisfaction The ideas o f tourism experts are more practical because they had experiences in managing their business and their ultimate goal is also tourist satisfaction

Experts from tourist companies must be in the managerial positions and the companies chosen were the ones that strongly operate in inbound tourism because the objects of the research are international tourists These interviewed managers are both Vietnamese and foreigners so that the survey’s objectivism could be ensured These interviewed questions were designed in both Vietnamese and English so that interviewees can easily reach the implications o f the interviewer

❖ Interviews for hotel managers

GRADUATION TU S S D S Nguyen Hong Van

Interview questions are sent to the managers o f 3 hotels: Hilton Hotel, Nhue River Hotel and Prince Hotel There are some reasons for choosing these hotels First o f all, the three chosen hotels range from 2 star to 5 star hotels so their guests are various in types and could ensure the accuracy o f the study Therefore, the study is more complete Secondly, these hotels were easy to reach due to the private relationship o f the interviewer who could ask these managers for interviewing Lastly and importantly, these hotels’ guests are foreigners whom the study is focusing on For the convenience

o f the interviewees, questions were sent to the managers as attached files through email and answers were received also as the attached files Before and after each interview was sent and received, the interviewer confirmed with interviewees through phone to urge and to say thank you to them The interviewees would be asked how their customers satisfied with their products and their strategy to make customers satisfied

❖ Interview for the expert o f HNAT

In order to ask for the ideas o f tourism officials, an interview was conducted to Ms Nguyen Thanh Binh, Head o f Travel Management and Development Promotion Department of Hanoi Administration o f Tourism (HNAT) The interview was carried out in a fairly comfortable atmosphere and focused on some ideas o f an HN AT’s official on the current situation o f tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism, target and orientation o f HNAT in the future The ideas o f HNAT’s officials are very necessary because the study focuses on Hanoi tourism, the ideas o f local tourism authority should

be defined here With the expert’s ideas, the gap can be found from the plan and reality

so that proposals could be given out to whittle down the gap

These interviews can be considered as consultation with the industry’s experts

5 Observation

Besides all methods using outside to get information for the study, observation is the most valuable method used in this research Observation is the way that the writer gives out her own ideas o f tourist satisfaction basing on what she has observed, experienced, and learnt The observation can display the w riter’s own evaluation o f

aRy\DUy\TJO A J T-Hesos Nguyen Hong Van

tourist satisfaction The ideas must exist in a long time and appear formally in the written document this time

The writer would observe tourists, their spending behavior, their reaction to Hanoi tourism services and their satisfaction level The writer’s assessments can be reached through talks with tourists, watching them joining in tour activities

Observation needs time and patience It somehow needs the aptitude o f observers because different observers may have different assessments towards a matter depending on their point of view Anyway, the observation needs to be displayed objectively and truthfully

V C onclusion

In brief, the introduction chapter has presented the reasons for carrying out the study and the initial steps o f doing the study The study was carried with an attempt to explore tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism and to find out the reasons explaining the ideas that so many international tourists did not come back Hanoi after the first time o f visiting this city The study will go to answer four main research questions: How does the current development situation o f Hanoi tourism satisfy the demand of international tourists in term o f tours and services, infrastructure, human resource, etc? What are the expectations that the international tourists have before coming to Hanoi? What is the satisfaction level o f international tourists towards tourism services in Hanoi and how does it affect on the development of the capital’s tourism? What are measures for attaining tourist satisfaction that can be applied for Hanoi tourism?

In order to answer these above questions, the study goes into the literature review to refer what have been written about the same topic The secondary research is for the purpose of finding out the ideas o f tourists, tourism experts, viewpoints of people who are concerned about the tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism, the research method

is for identifying what have been written and judged about the current situation of Hanoi tourism development as well as the satisfaction level o f tourists towards tourism

dK ^D LA A TJO M T u e s j s Nguyễn Hồng ’Van

products and services of the capital Basing on the theoretical framework learned from the literature review and secondary research o f information, the study has identified five main hypotheses that need to be tested So, the three other methods have been used for carrying out the task: questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and the writer’s observation Though each of these methods has its strengths and weaknesses, all of them are strong tools and necessarily contribute to the success o f the study

The study will go into exploring and analyzing the current situation o f tourist satisfaction towards Hanoi tourism and giving proposals for attaining it in the later chapters

G R A D U A T IO N T H Ê S J S Nguyêti Hong Van

C H A P T E R 2: TH E C U R R E N T SIT U A T IO N OF T O U R IST

SA T ISFA C T IO N & E X P L A N A T IO N S FO R H A N O I T O U R ISM

According to the updated information o f General Statistics Office, 85% international tourists do not want to come back Vietnam for the second time That means in every ten international tourists coming to Vietnam, only one or two people really come back The result is the same for Hanoi tourism These shows the facts that the attractiveness

o f Hanoi nature, culture, history and people is just calling for international tourists to visit but the service quality could not conquer tourists, therefore, they just come once.However, in calculating the number o f international tourists coming back, a standardized cycle does not seem to be accurate 84% surveyed tourists said that they will come back Some o f them said that they will come back Hanoi when their children grow; some o f them said that they will come back Hanoi when they are 50 or 60 years old to see any change with Hanoi Whereas, some tourists said that they are surely come back Hanoi if they will have completed their journey to some chosen destinations, others said to come back Hanoi if they have time and money So those are the objective factors motivating international tourists to come back Hanoi The thing is how the tourist returning rate is calculated; the rate is not accurate if it is simply done

in the cycle o f one or two year For example, a tourist come to Hanoi this year but then

he will come back in the next twenty years if his conditions are satisfied That is why the cycle for calculating the tourist returning rate should be readjusted Furthermore, in the later analysis o f Hanoi tourism and its special features, Hanoi will display to be a destination for visiting rather than going shopping, so if tourists want to see any change

o f Hanoi, they need time for the city to change

¿TRADUyvraơA) T f \S S J S Nguyễn 'Xổng Vân

Most of tourists coming to Hanoi for discovery, so another traveling chance must be spent for the places they have not been, they can not be in Hanoi for all time On the other hand, for the whole life of a tourist, he or she might come to Hanoi several times but each time might be eight or ten years far from each other That is why the cycle of one year used to evaluate international tourist returning rate is not suitable One thing can be said for sure that if tourists are satisfied with the destination, they will come back provided that the destination offers them what they desire, surprise them and impress them So, the satisfaction of tourists is the final goal and objective of not only Hanoi but all tourist destinations Tourist satisfaction will not only keep tourists coming back the destination but also attract more tourists to come for word of mouth is

a powerful marketing tool and tourists will not hesitate to share with their friends what they have been experienced

Objectively speaking, Hanoi has its own pros and cons for developing the city’s tourism sector, these need to be pointed out so that measures can be taken for improving the problems of Hanoi tourism

In order to explore and analyze the tourist satisfaction within

Hanoi tourism and its current development for satisfying

tourists’ demand, the study will use SWOT analysis for figuring

out the strengths and opportunities that Hanoi tourism

possesses, the weaknesses and threats it has to encounter From

the result o f SWOT analysis, proposals can be raised for Hanoi tourism to make use o f its strengths and opportunities for developing the sector as well as to overcome its weakness and threats

I Strengths and opportunities for developing H anoi tourism

In exploring the real situation with all research methods, there would be some

conclusions for strengths and opportunities that Hanoi tourism possesses

(^RjADUjATJOA) T W B S 3 S Nguyên Hong “Van

1.1 The advantage o f being the capital city o f Vietnam

Hanoi is the capital city o f Vietnam Psychologically, when choosing to visit a country, tourists often think about its capital city For example, tourists often think about Bangkok of Thailand, Paris o f France, London o f England and so Hanoi is not an exception when tourists select Vietnam as a destination

Hanoi has the favorable conditions o f airway and an aspect o f infrastructure (in comparison with other provinces in Vietnam)

For the position o f the capital city, Hanoi has Noi Bai International Airport, so the city

is the first destination for tourists before they come to visit other places in other provinces of Vietnam Tourists coming to the North of Vietnam by airway, though unintentionally or intentionally, all have chance to see Hanoi Furthermore, Hanoi is also the centre for organizing some important international events such as ASEM, APEC meeting, CEO meetings, Conference for French speaking countries, etc Therefore, Hanoi greeted a lot of guests from other countries and these guests become tourists when they come to visit places in Hanoi besides their work here The number

o f these tourists is quite big; for the guests joining these conferences are mostly the rich ones so their spending in Hanoi is remarkable This promises to bring a huge potential profit for Hanoi tourism if the advantage is taken All these events, if taken thoroughly, will be wonderful opportunities to promote Hanoi tourism to the world and reach the long term advantage o f its tourism

For the infrastructure, the hotel system in Hanoi is now upgraded The city now has totally four hundred twenty hotels, of which, eight are the 5-star hotels that operate with the international standards These hotels are meeting the residing demand o f tourists The facilities o f these hotels are also modem to satisfy the tourists’ demand Moreover, in the next coming years, a lot o f the big hotel corporations in the world like Intercontinental, Hyatt will invest to build more hotels in Hanoi, this will contribute to improvement o f the infrastructure o f Hanoi

G R A D U A T IO N T A S S O S Nguyên Hong Vân

1.2 The advantages o f roadway to other provinces

Besides airway, Hanoi also has the advantages o f roadway travel; Hanoi is connected with other provinces and cities by national roads Therefore, the tour itineraries for tourists visiting Hanoi and neighboring provinces become more convenient

From Hanoi, there are four main national roads to the neighboring provinces: National Road N o l, National Road No.5, National Road No.6 and National Road No.32 In general, the quality of these roads is relatively good so it would be easier for tourists from Hanoi to other provinces and vice versa

1.3 The advantages o f culture, history, and old architecture, green and dynamic city

In addition, Hanoi has been judged “the capital o f one thousand years of civilization” Hanoi brings inside it the values o f culture, history and humanity Hanoi is a worth seeing place for researchers o f history, culture because despite experiencing thousand years o f changing, Hanoi still remains its values and signifies for Vietnam Hanoi still remains the old quarters, the vestiges o f the past Besides, the city has the new buildings and industrial parks, the evidences for its development Consequently, Hanoi contains both old and new things, like what has been displayed in the logo o f Vietnam tourism “the hidden charm”, Hanoi brings the hidden charm attracting tourists to discover

It can be said that Hanoi has favorable conditions to develop cultural tourism Hanoi has a system o f museums, handicraft villages that will attract tourists’ curiosity Additionally, Hanoi also has the old quarters with many old-style houses to satisfy the desire for discovering architecture o f tourists The city is covered with a lot o f temples and pagodas which will be attractive destinations for tourists who are fascinated by its culture

For cultural tourism, the gourmet o f Hanoi has surprised international tourists; it has a lot of special foods such as “Green rice”, “Pho”, “Pho cuon”, “Bun cha” that fascinate tourists

(5'RADLAATZJOW T f\<SSJS Nguyen J-C6ng 1 Jän

Hanoi foods are not only delicious but also beautiful in the way they are cooked Many tourist companies in Hanoi taking this advantage have organized gourmet tours for tourists and received very successful results Tourists joining these kinds of tours have chance to enjoy the food and understand the copious mind of local residents

It can be withdrawn from the observation that Hanoi has a lot of trees which UNESCO once ranked Hanoi as the city that has the most green trees Coming to Hanoi, tourists have the chance to see green trees, not only in a lot of parks but even in the streets of the city

Besides the old architecture and traditional cultural values, Hanoi is also considered “a dynamic city” For this aspect, Hanoi is a young city in the on-going development of the economy Hanoi has many architectural monuments with the international stature such as International Convention Center, My Dinh National Stadium, and many other modem buildings in the centre All of these monuments will turn to be attractive places for tourists who want to discover the beauty o f Hanoi, both traditional and modem beauty Especially, for tourists who come to Hanoi on further purpose of investment into Hanoi, these architectural monuments will have not only tourism values but also economic values

1.4 The advantages of human resource.

Hanoi has a large population and the number of people working in its tourism sector is also large So human resource can turn out to be the strength of Hanoi tourism According to the statistics of Hanoi Administration of Tourism, the number o f people working in tourism sector account for around 27 percent o f Hanoi labor structure These people include both staff working in tourist companies, hotels, and the ones who have tourism related jobs

1.5 Being one o f the safest cities in the world.

Hanoi plio