Hanoi had outlined several key tasks to boost the cultural industry in the future and fulfill its commitments to UNESCO when it joined the organization's Creative Cities Network.

A dragon dance show at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. Photo: Duy Linh/The Hanoi Times

The city will focus on raising public awareness of the cultural industry, improving the regulatory system, and investing in manpower training.

Hanoi authorities will also accelerate the application of science and technology to the development of the cultural industry and provide incentives to attract private investment.

In addition, the city will seek to further enhance its international partnerships in developing the cultural industry and position itself as a “creative city” committed to UNESCO.

Drastic measures will also be taken to promote Hanoi's strong activities in cultural tourism, handicraft production, art performances, architecture, film and broadcasting, publishing, and fashion.

By 2025, Hanoi expects to welcome more than 30 million visitors, seven million of them international. The tourism sector is expected to contribute some VND130 trillion (US$5.5 billion) to the city's revenue and accounts for 8% of the gross regional domestic product (GRDP).

In 2030, Hanoi expects to welcome more than 48 million visitors, including more than 11.5 million international tourists. It targets to earn VND230 trillion from tourism activities.

In the past five years, the city has undertaken strong actions toward the development of the cultural industry. It has spent more than VND5.2 trillion on the cultural industry, recognized 27 tourism sites, and signed agreements with major domestic airlines and 40 other provinces and cities in the country to boost local tourism.

Hanoi was the first locality that had a special resolution on cultural industry development which demonstrates the determination of the people and authorities of Hanoi to promote cultural values as an economic spearhead.

Regarding international collaboration, Hanoi has partnered with 100 other capital cities and local authorities, such as Athens (Greece), the Ile-de-France region (France), Singapore, South Korea, and Australia.

Actions have also been taken to promote the image, history, and culture of Hanoi and Vietnam worldwide through international broadcasting channels such as CNN. In addition, the city has organized training courses for nearly 6,000 people to improve the quality of tourism products and services.

Such efforts have contributed to the city recording higher revenues from tourism activities year on year. The tourism sector in 2022 is estimated to gross VND60 trillion, up 5.3 times from 2021. The figure is considered a great improvement after reopening the post-pandemic period. In 2016-2019, the total revenue of the tourism sector increased from VND61.8 trillion to VND8 trillion.

In 2022, Hanoi received numerous awards and merits. UNESCO recognizes the city as the “City for Peace”. In 2019, Hanoi joined UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, which is seen as a motivation for the city’s authorities and people to develop the cultural industry.