Hanoi’s local government has designated two areas as ‘craft villages’ in Phu Xuyen district in a bid to increase tourism, DTI news has reported.
The two villages are Chuyen My, which makes mother-of-pearl inlaying and lacquer products; and Van Tu which specializes in tailoring.
Chuyen My has been renowned for its intricate mother-of-pearl trimming for many years, producing millions of items such as wooden beds and tables through to seats to and art works.
Van Tu is the only craft village in Vietnam that specializes in suit making, with about 1,100 families working in tailoring, according to DTI.
Tailoring has helped raise family salaries to about 500 million-700 million VND (21,500–30,200 U.S. dollars) per year, far above the national average.
Hanoi has 1,350 craft villages, almost one-third of the national total, though only a few have been listed as official tourist destinations.
The capital has prioritized several such projects for investment, including in a further 17 craft villages. Thus far only two of the villages have successfully become tourist hotspots, Bat Trang ceramics village and Van Phuc silk village, but the investment aims to see things change for the remaining 15 villages.
The Hanoi craft village association has chosen Thach Xa bamboo dragonfly-making village, Du wood sculpture village and Chuong conical hat making village as potential areas for tourist development.
Hanoi tourism is growing fast. The city saw 23.8 million tourists in the first 10 months of 2019, up 9.7%. This included 5.3 million foreigners and nearly 18.5 million Vietnamese, with tourism revenue hitting 83.16 trillion VND during the period. The city hopes to attract over 28 million tourists in 2019.
