Published on : Wednesday, November 13, 2013
UNWTOFrom Nov. 21 to 22, the first international conference on spiritual tourism will be held in Northern Province of Ninh Binh’s Bai Dinh Pagoda. It will also focus on the importance of spiritual tourism, cultural exchange and responsible tourism. The event expects to entice between 340-350 participants with half coming from overseas.
The conference is an initiative of World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) secretary-general Taleb Rifai and is organised by the ministry, UNWTO and the Ninh Binh People’s Committee. An official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the conference on ‘Spiritual Tourism for Sustainable Development’ will discover ways in which culture, traditions and beliefs can be integrated into tourism while respecting the four pillars of sustainability: environment, economy, society and culture.
Nguyen Van Tuan, Head of the ministry’s National Administration of Tourism, said spiritual tourism mirrors the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of temples, pagodas, religious structures, and local customs.
The government plans to expand a number of spiritual tourism attractions such as the triangular Hanoi-Ha Long-Ninh Binh tourism route, Huong Pagoda (Hanoi), Tran Temple (Nam Dinh) as well as the Bai Dinh Pagoda and Trang a tourism site (Ninh Binh) which have been suggested as world heritage sites.
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