Vietnam ready for incredible growth in tourism: CNN journalist
Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 16:08 GMT+7
Richard Quest, host of CNN's Quest's World of Wonder travel show, has forecast a bright future for tourism development in Vietnam thanks to distinctive advantages, such as friendly people and excellent quality of food and services.
"It [Vietnam] is fascinating, interesting, growing and welcoming. The country is putting more importance on tourism," the CNN veteran journalist said during an exclusive interview with Tuoi Tre News after coming to Vietnam to shoot the program, introducing Ho Chi Minh City to a global audience.
“When I look at what's going on here, I see young people and Vietnam slowly but surely integrating itself into the bigger and wider economy.”
Seeking unique experiences
“This heat is killing me. I have been to Vietnam once before and I don't remember it as hot as this,” Richard Quest said at the appointment.
Sharing about Quest's World of Wonder travel program, Quest said that the show will choose a city to introduce each month.
It tends to be a city where people can have lots of experiences, unique, and useful discoveries.
Before coming to Ho Chi Minh City, Quest went to many other famous places such as Bangkok, Paris, London, and soon Osaka and Melbourne.
“I hadn’t been to Vietnam for 20 years, and so I decided to choose this place as the next destination of the program.
“It [Vietnam] is fascinating, interesting, growing and welcoming. The country is putting more importance on tourism”, he said.
To bring the audience the most realistic perspectives, Quest must immerse himself in the experience at each destination in Ho Chi Minh City, such as learning how to cross the street, enjoying pancakes, watching the À Ố Show and water puppetry.
“We also talked with many characters, discussed topics from cultural stories to economic development and tourism perspectives,” Quest revealed.
Vietnam tourism to grow strongly
Richard Quest said he was amazed by the development and modernity of Vietnam, especially impressed by the friendliness of Vietnamese people, and excellent quality of food and services.
These factors will promote continuous and outstanding development of tourism.
“Vietnam is ready for incredible growth in tourism, especially in the next 10 years, which will have plus and minus.
“It will be good as many more people are coming, but managing that tourism so it’s sustainable and does not damage the environment is going to be a challenge,” Quest commented.
In particular, despite constant noise and bustle, Quest described Ho Chi Minh City as having an ‘organized chaos,’ which makes the city different from other places that CNN programs have featured.
“I think Ho Chi Minh City seems to run smoother. It's noisier, but there is an ‘organized chaos’. It's not like Bangkok where you just look and think ‘Oh my God! What's going on?’ Here, everybody’s moving but it’s like a big dance.
“You want to put it to music. When I look out of the window seeing all the motorbikes, it's like an opera or a ballet.
“Vietnam's economy is dramatically changing. I see young people. I see Vietnam slowly but surely integrating itself into the bigger and wider economy, and the fascinating part is that there are 100 million people here. This is not a small country. If Vietnam was in Europe, it would be the country with the largest population,” he compared.
The seductive sizzling sound of banh xeo
The new season of CNN show Quest's World of Wonder featuring Ho Chi Minh City is expected to be shown in August this year.
Talking about culinary experiences, Quest constantly praises banh xeo, a Vietnamese crispy rice pancake with pork and shrimp.
During his days in Ho Chi Minh City, he and the CNN film crew went to a market where attractive banh xeo were made.
“The yellow, crispy crust and the seductive sizzling sound captivated us. The banh xeo is very delicious. It looks different, the way it tastes is different,” the CNN journalist said, adding that one of the important elements of Quest's World of Wonder is to show how Vietnamese dishes are different from other countries.
“For a lot of audiences in the rest of the world, all Vietnamese dishes are made from rice and are all the same. So we had to somehow explain to people that it's a Vietnamese dish with these sounds or that ingredient. That's also the reason why banh xeo was chosen. This dish is unique and different,” he explained.
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