Hanoi city officials have inked a two-year, US$2 million deal with American news channel CNN to air promotional tourism material in the hope of attracting foreign visitors and boosting the capital’s image.
The move was announced by Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung during a Monday press conference, reports The Nation. The leader also expressed his hope that the promotion would help to bring more investors and business opportunities to the Vietnamese capital.
“The city will spend $1 million each year promoting its image and that of its businesses on the CNN television channel,” Chung said, according to Tuoi Tre.
The campaign is set to launch on January 1, 2017 and will run until December 31, 2018, the news outlet reports, adding that capital officials received a 50% discount from the news network.
Negotiations with the channel began in August, during which time Hanoi’s Department of Tourism joined forces with the city’s Department of Culture and Sports to create a media strategy for the campaign, according to Deputy Director Truong Minh Tien of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports.
Landmarks to be featured in Hanoi’s promotional materials reportedly include Hoan Kiem Lake, the Temple of Literature and the capital’s Imperial Citadel.
“[The campaign] was elaborately prepared for by multiple bodies in Hanoi, taking into account the fact that previous promotional budgets had been spent without significant results,” Phan Lan Tu, director of Hanoi’s Department of Information and Technology, told Tuoi Tre.
She continued: “Once we get quality promotional material airing on CNN, the media impact will be huge.”
Meanwhile, The Nation made special note of Chairman Chung’s emphasis on the business opportunities the capital hopes to attract. So far this year, nearly 23,000 companies have been established in Hanoi, the news source reports, bringing the capital’s total number of businesses to 202,255. This is the sharpest increase in six years, according to municipal Party Committee Secretary Hoang Trung Hai.
Though Hanoi’s small- and medium-sized businesses still face their fair share of challenges, city officials are hopeful that their promotional efforts will encourage more economic activity in the capital, which will in turn help to increase employment, foster growth and improve the local quality of life.
[Photo via Flickr user Flip Nomad]
