Inside Asian Gaming

IAG DEC 2020年12月 亞博匯 74 FEATURES To the north, Hanoi is renowned as Vietnam’s cultural melting pot, highlighting the influence of past settlers via its architecture and famous street food, while directly to the east is the country’s most famous tourist attraction, the world heritage listed Ha Long Bay with its 1,600 individual islands across 43,000 hectares. Finally to Central Vietnam, famous for the old town of Hoi An with its incredible cultural traditions and for some of the nation’s finest beaches, where white sand and turquoise waters stretch as far as the eye can see. “Central Vietnam is definitely a resort beach community,” says Wolstenholme. “That’s what people come here to enjoy, the beach experience, but also to have the cultural experience of Hanoi without having to go too far. “Unlike Hanoi which is more vintage or Ho Chi Minh City which is quite dynamic, with a very large population, Central Vietnam is all about culture and leisure, but the great thing about Vietnam is that people can come and experience the whole lot. “If we look at Vietnam as a destination, we still lag behind places like Thailand but in terms of growth we are in a very good position to compete with destinations that are more mature in terms of attracting international visitors.” It’s not just travelers recognizing what Vietnam has to offer, Wolstenholme notes. In recent years, the central government itself has made an increasingly concerted effort to promote Vietnam to the world both as a tourist destination and as Southeast Asia’s emerging investment hub. Long renowned for its tough visa policies, Vietnam began easing its entry requirements in 2015 when it expanded its visa waiver program to include 24 countries, including the likes of South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines in Asia, plus the UK, Germany, Italy and France among 10 European exemptions. Three of those – South Korea, Japan and Taiwan – ranked in the top four source markets for tourist arrivals in 2019 with 4.3 million, 952,000 and 926,000 都河內，以及沿海城市會安和金蘭市，各有八個項目。 這多樣性的項目地理分佈正好說明了越南為何是全球旅遊 熱點。遊客可南下到訪越南最大城市了解更多有關其當代歷史， 亦可北上體驗揉合法式和中式建築的傳統政治都會，也可到越南 中部享受更傳統的文化體驗，並在舉世聞名的海灘上消磨時光。 越南南部被人稱為全國最開放、最友好及最熱情好客的地 區，包括以充滿活力的街道和永無休止的夜生活而聞名的胡志明 市（前稱西貢）。當地亦有一些非凡的歷史名勝，如戰爭遺跡博物 館，讓訪客以情感角度，回顧越南戰爭的點滴，並重回糾支地道， 該地道系統在以往戰爭時供越共使用，避開美國軍隊的追蹤。 南部也是遼闊的湄公河三角洲的所在地，以湄公河為中心， 延伸出眾多河流水道，適合各類野生動植物棲息。 河內位於越南北部，是當地的文化大熔爐，其建築和著名的 街頭美食均保留前殖民者對當地的影響，而東部是該國最著名的 旅遊勝地，包括被列入《世界遺產名錄》的下龍灣，由1600個獨立 島嶼組成，面積達4.3萬公頃。 最後來到越南中部，除了以會安古鎮所突出的文化傳統而聞 名外，當地擁有全國數一數二的沙灘，幼細白沙和綿延不絕的碧 綠海水，亦令人神往。 「越南中部絕對是海灘度假勝地。」Wolstenholme稱，「人們 到這裏來享樂，在海灘上盡情玩耍體驗，亦不用長途跋涉，就能享 受河內的文化體驗。」 「跟較為古色古香的河內，或活力四射但人口眾多的胡志明 市不一樣，越南中部集中於文化與休閒元素，但越南難能可貴之 處是人們可在這裏獲得眾多不同體驗。」 「如果我們視越南為旅遊目的地，越南仍然落後於泰國等 地，但以增長方面而言，越南處於有利位置，可與其他在吸引國際 遊客方面較為成熟的目的地競爭。」 Wolstenholme指出，不僅旅客意識到越南能提供的旅遊體 驗。近年，越南政府亦加大力度向世界推廣越南作為旅遊勝地和 東南亞新興投資中心的地位。 長久以來，越南以嚴格的簽證政策著稱，但於2015年起放寬