Hanoi (VNA) –Vietnam, with its gorgeous and otherworldly natural and cultural heritagesites, which film producers crave, is willing to host foreign film productionsafter the fresh success of “Kong: Skull Island” shot in northern Ninh Binh,Quang Ninh and central Quang Binh provinces.

Vietnam boasts untouchednature

Director JordanVogt-Roberts spent six months searching the globe for places to film “Kong:Skull Island”. At first sight, his professional eyes and heart were captured byHa Long Bay and Trang An tourism complex in the provinces of Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh, and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in the central province ofQuang Binh.

Frombeing reluctant for foreign film productions…

Vietnamis bestowed with an attractive nature which was the background for othersuccessful movies. In 1992, the French film “Indochina” by Regis Wargnier shotin Vietnam won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film atthe 65th Academy Awards. However, the number of foreign films shot in Vietnam over the pastdecades can be counted on one hand. There are several reasons for this.

In 2012, the project“Bourne Legacy”, starring Jerremy Renner, wasmoved to the Philippines instead of Vietnam, as the country was not ready tohost an international blockbuster. Previously, “Bond 18”, which was initiallyset to be filmed in Vietnam, also had to move to Thailand for the same reason.

NgoPhuong Lan, Director of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry ofCulture, Sports and Tourism, told the Vietnam News Agency’s (VNA) correspondentthat all foreign film scripts must be approved by Vietnam’s competentagencies before the filming begins. However, the procedure requirescoordination between several ministries, sectors and localities at differentlevels, and sometimes it hampered some projects. A number of localities alsoworried that filming could damage their natural landscapes.

 
More recently, JoeWright scoured the world looking for a place that perfectly fits the magicalworld of Neverland for the classic movie “Pan” with Hugh Jackman. He found hisdreamland in the world’s biggest cave, Son Doong in Quang Binh and got approvalfrom Vietnamese authorities. However, without promotion and marketingstrategies, Vietnam’s tourism sector enjoyed few benefits from the project.

…to seizingopportunities triggered by cinema

One day before “Kong:Skull Island” premiered, Vogt-Roberts was appointed as Vietnam’s Ambassador ofTourism for the 2017 -2020 term. The move aims to takefull advantage of his fame and the blockbuster to promote Vietnam’s tourism.Previously, then Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung paid a call on the crew whilethey were filming in Ninh Binh province, sending a clear message that Vietnamhas opened the door to foreign filmmakers after decades of hesitation.

In aninterview with VNA’s correspondent, Deputy Director General of the VietnamNational Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Ngo Hoai Chung said the tourism sectorconsiders this event a golden opportunity. Numerous tours related to “Kong:Skull Island” have been offered, such as “Kong’s journey” and “Kong’shomeland”, connecting Quang Binh – Ninh Binh – Quang Ninh for tourists toexperience Vietnam’s nature, as it was on the big screen.

The sector has also developedvideos featuring Vietnam’s nature as well as spectacular scenes taken from themovie to show at overseas tourism promotion events, and send them to Vietnameseembassies around the world and other representative offices abroad, Chung said.

The Government, the tourism sector, and localities offer numerous incentives and assistance to lure international productions while taking neccessary cautions to protect the landscapes and natural values, Chung said, affirming that Vietnam is ready tocompete with neighbouring nations to be a hot spot for filmmakers.

Tourismand cinema – A perfect marriage

Thewin-win relationship between tourism and cinema is undeniable. Facts andfigures have attested to this perfect marriage. “The Lord of the Rings” and“The Hobbit” by director Peter Jackson were shot in New Zealand. The countryhas seen a 50 percent increase in arrivals since the Lord of the Rings wasreleased. The Hobbiton Movie Set has appealed to many tourists who visited thecountry. Currently, tourism is the second largest industry of New Zealand,behind dairy, tourism expert Gregg Anderson told Forbes magazine.

Since“Bond 18” left Vietnam for Thailand in 1997, Thailand has hosted dozens of thousandsof international productions, generating a massive fortune. According to theThailand Film Office within the Department of Tourism, the country earned 380million USD from hosting 4,470 foreign productions since 2010.

“Kong:Skull Island” worth 185 million USD has just debuted in 65 countries worldwide,including Vietnam, kicking off a strong media and press campaign at home andabroad, with audiences and critics lauding the movie and the wondrous naturalscenes of Vietnam. According to VNAT, the number of international arrivals toVietnam reached 2.2 million in the first two months of 2017, an year-on-yearincrease of 33 percent. The blockbuster is expected to contribute to anincrease of 30 percent after its debut.

Addressingthe ceremony to announce his appointment as Vietnam’s Ambassador of tourism, Vogt-Robertspraised the landscapes and the warm welcome people offered to him, andexpressed his hope that the film would encourage more people and Hollywood filmmakersto visit and explore Vietnam.

Cinemacan inspire viewers and send messages via sight, sound, feelings and thoughts,Ngo Phuong Lan said, adding that promoting tourism via cinema was ideal. Thedomestic film titled “Toi thay hoa vang tren co xanh” (Yellow flowers on thegreen grass) by Victor Vu has helped the south central province of Phu Yenbecome a tourist magnet, she said.

Actionplans to lure international tourists

VNAT introduced its newtourism slogan “Vietnam – Timeless charm” to replace the old “Vietnam – Hiddencharm” in 2014, with the aim of promoting new experiences available with morepositive, confident and open-minded energy. One year later, the Ministry of ForeignAffairs launched high-quality seven-minute video clips “Welcome to Vietnam” innine languages, featuring the beauty of the landscapes and people of Vietnam.The effort marked the first official media-based promotion strategy tointroduce Vietnam worldwide.

The capital city of Hanoi was a pioneer among 63 provincesand cities to sign a deal with the Cable News Network (CNN) to broadcast itsimages across the globe. Under the deal worth 2 million USD, the US channelhelped Hanoi produce 30-second promotional videos, three- and five-minutereportages, as well as a 30-minute programme and promote them on its televisionchannel and social media throughout 2017 and 2018. The twopromotion videos have just been broadcast on the channel.

According to Ngo HoaiChung, only 3 million USD is earmarked from the state budget for tourismpromotion and marketing each year. The amount is too modest in comparison withother nations in the region and the world. The figures are 70 million USD, 100million USD and nearly 120 million USD in Thailand, Malaysia, and thePhilippines, respectively.

In 2017, the sector aimsto mobilise 15 million USD for promotion and marketing activities, up 15percent from 2016. It also hopes to earn 20.5 billion USD from serving 11.5million foreign visitors and 70 million domestic holidaymakers, up 11.5 percentand about 12 percent, respectively.

The Party’s resolution on developing tourisminto a spearhead economic sector by 2020 was issued early this year. Thedraft Law on Tourism is scheduled to be approved during the upcoming thirdmeeting of the 14th National Assembly. The tourism sector is hopedto grow strongly, with the cinematic sector and media offering greatcontributions. With the participation of localities and tourism agencies, Vietnamhas a solid foundation to believe that all long-term and short-term tourismtargets are achievable, Chung reiterated.-VNA