Visitors to the festival can learn how to cook delicious dishes from different ethnic groups. (Photo: langvanhoavietnam.vn)

Spring festival to showcase cultural identities

The Festival of Spring Colours is taking place at the Vietnam Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism throughout February with a series of traditional cultural activities.

The festival is held annually to welcome the spring and to honor ethnic communities' identity, promote solidarity among them and offer a traditional festive atmosphere to tourists as well.

Some 100 representatives of 15 ethnic groups from 13 localities throughout the country will host activities each day during the month.

The festival climax will be on February 11 and 12 with the Kate Festival of the Cham group, tree planting, folk cham do ho singing and performing Xoe Thai - a UNESCO recognized intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The Kate Festival is one of the biggest and most unique cultural activities of the Cham. It features a host of activities and ceremonies at ancient towers, with traditions including offerings to ancestors, musical performances, and the signing of hymns praising kings who were prominent in the building and development of the Champa Kingdom and the Cham people.

Tree planting has become an annual Vietnamese custom each Lunar New Year since President Ho Chi Minh initiated the campaign, contributing to environmental protection, socio-economic development, and national defense and security.

Since then, tree planting has been practiced whenever a lunar new year comes. It will take place over half an hour at the Thai ethnic village.

Some 60 Thai artists from the northern province of Son La will perform Xee Thai. The dance expresses the solidarity, democracy and collectiveness of the Thai people.

The group dance xoe at spring festivals, crop festival and weddings, which has been considered a cultural symbol of the northwest region.

Xoe Thai performances will begin at 2.30pm on February 11 and 9.30 and 2.30pm on February 12, cited VNA.

There will be folk games, traditional dishes, typical delicacies of various ethnic groups and folk singing and dancing.

In addition, visitors to the festival can enjoy and learn how to cook delicious dishes and specialties and make traditional handicrafts of the groups.

The festival offers an opportunity for ethnic groups to meet and exchange cultural values and daily life activities. It also contributes to honouring and preserving the traditional culture of Vietnamese ethnic minorities.

Vietnam ranks above Thailand in TasteAtlas’s Asian cuisine ranking

Renowned international food magazine TasteAtlas has released a collection of 24 Asian countries which have the best cuisines, with Vietnam featured highly in the list.

The magazine ranked the various cuisines according to audience votes for ingredients, dishes, and beverages.

Vietnam is placed sixth in TasteAtlas’s Asian cuisine ranking (Photo: TasteAtlas)

Accordingly, Vietnam finished sixth, scoring 4.31 points. The five best rated Vietnamese food suggested by TasteAtlas include Bánh mỳ (Vietnamese baguette), Phở (Vietnamese noodle soup), Chả Giò (Spring rolls), Bò kho (beef stew), and Bún bò Huế (Hue beef noodle soup). Elsewhere, Phú Quốc Fish Sauce, Vietnamese iced coffee, and egg coffee were also highly recommended.

Japan topped the list with its array of delicious food, such as kare, sushi, ramen, yakitori, and tonkatsu, which are famous throughout the world.

Other countries to make the top six include India, China, Indonesia, and the Republic of Korea, according to VOV.

Thailand ranked in 10th place with 4.16 points, represented by phanaeng, khao soi, tom yum, and pad Thai.

Previously, TasteAtlas had ranked Vietnamese food at 20th in the world.

Tourism – a source of growth in Vietnam for 2023: HSBC

Despite near-term trade headwinds, tourism has emerged as a source of growth for Vietnam to mitigate the challenges ahead in 2023, according to the “Vietnam at a glance” report released by HSBC on February 6.

The report stressed that January’s data showed Vietnam continues to face difficulties in trade and the inflationary pressure of increasing prices.

Foreign tourists visit Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

However, in spite of slowing trade, there are still pockets of resilience in Vietnam’s economy, and tourism will be a key one in 2023.

Following its re-opening last March, Vietnam’s domestic tourism has been soaring, easily surpassing its 2022 target of 60 million to over 100 million tourists, VNA reported.

Meanwhile, international tourism, which previously accounted for 60% of tourism receipts, saw a tepid recovery post COVID-19, with tourist arrivals reaching 3.6 million, only 20% of 2019’s level.

But there are good reasons to expect a more meaningful recovery, in particular after China’s reopening, HSBC said, adding that a 50-80% return of Chinese tourists can be achievable, if flight constraints can be solved and visa entry requirements can be eased further.

At present, one of Vietnam’s most noticeable weaknesses in the tourism sector is the lack of visa exemptions for major markets including mainland China, the US and Australia. Visa exemptions for some European markets allow travellers to stay up to only 15 days.

Officials are considering an extension of the visa waiver period to 30 days and the issuance of electronic visas for citizens from all markets.

Another way to facilitate tourism is not just by improving its traditional infrastructure, but also diversifying tourism products. Sports tourism is included in the tourism industry vision from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). It can also help attract high-spending travelers, noted HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world.

E-wallet market in Vietnam estimated to reach 50 million users by 2024

The modern e-wallet market in Vietnam is surging and is expected to reach 50 million active users by July 2024, experts said.

In a report, Robocash Group said, “the modern e-wallet market in Vietnam is booming with 90% of the market falling on three wallets: Momo, Moca and ZaloPay.”

Images showing the e-wallet market by share of active users by Robocash Group. (Photo courtesy of Robocash Group)

The country is seeing tough competition, given that there are 40 electronic wallets in operation, the report said.

Robocash Group estimates that by July 2024, the e-wallet market will have 50 million active users, 100 million by May 2026, and 150 million by July 2030.

In addition to the already mentioned wallets, there are three other major competitors including ShopeePay (AirPay), ViettelPay and VNPT Pay. The top six already account for 99% of the market, cited VNS.

According to a Decision Lab study, at the end of 2021, 56% of the Vietnamese population that had an e-wallet use Momo. The portion is 17% for Shopee Pay, 14% for Zalo Pay, 8% for ViettelPay, 2% for Moca and 1% for VNPT Pay.

Robocash analysts observed that over the past four years, the number of active users has increased by an impressive 330%, from 12.3 million to 41.3 million.

About 57% of the country’s adult population actively uses e-wallets, in contrast to just 14% at the end of 2018, which is considered significant penetration.

The Vietnamese e-wallet market can compete with traditional or digital banking, Robocash said, adding that the current six super apps mentioned above have unlimited potential to attract new customers not only within Vietnam itself, but also beyond its borders.

By July 2030, the market share of active users will likely be distributed as follows: Momo 47.3%, ViettelPay 30.2%, ZaloPay 16.5%, VNPT Pay 5.6%, Moca 0.4%.

Nguyen Tieu Festival in Hoi An named intangible heritage

Hoi An’s City Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation confirmed the certificate was handed over on February 5, marking the fifth national intangible heritage after Thanh Chau bird's nest, Thanh Ha Pottery village, carpentry of Kim Bong village and Tra Que vegetable garden.

The annual Nguyen Tieu Festival celebrating the full moon of the first lunar month of the year in Hoi An has been recognised as a National Intangible Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The city’s Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation confirmed the certificate was handed over on February 5, marking the fifth national intangible heritage after Thanh Chau bird's nest, Thanh Ha Pottery village, carpentry of Kim Bong village and Tra Que vegetable garden.

The annual Nguyen Tieu Festival celebrating the full moon of the first lunar month of the year in Hoi An has been recognised as a National Intangible Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The centre said the festival was a major event in a series of cultural and ritual activities among local people held during the first lunar month, cited WVR.

Local people often prepare for the festival from the seventh day of the month with ancestor worship and praying for peace at the communal houses of Cam Pho, Ong Voi, Japanese Bridge, Ong and Ba Pagoda and Minh Huong commune house, as well as the Fujian and Jiao Zhou clubs.

A night parade will take place in the Old Quarter with lanterns and a poet recital at Cam Pho communal house as well as folk games at Kazik Park on February 4-6.

Pagodas and communal houses will be open on two days and nights of the 15 and 16 lunar days of January (which fall on February 5-6 this year).

The annual festival – the most important spiritual event of the year – is an attraction to the locals and tourists with candlelit paper flowers lighting up the river.

Every family wishes for a peaceful year with vegetarian food, rice, salt, wine, aloeswood, votive ancestral tablets and paper.

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