I was watching Modern Marvels on the history channel today and learned something interesting. Apparently **read comment below**, during the great depression, the US government created jobs for people by funding public works projects like building roads in US national parks. This had two benefits 1) It create jobs 2) It help showcase the beauty of the American landscape, which translate to immeasurable tourist dollars today.
Vietnam could really learn a lesson from this. Since Vietnam is filled with natural wonders and an exotic agricultural market, it is definitely a country worth showing off. Perhaps the government could create public works project and hire the Vietnam people, who are willing and can do just about anything, to work for them. For example, they could hire people to help widen the roads in and around Saigon. They could hire people to help clean up the Mekong river delta, which is extremely polluted in several places. And they could hire people to preserve coastal wonders like Ha Long Bay, Da Nang, and so on.
This not only gives people something to do, it will also help improve Vietnam and help attract more tourists. Like me for example. Even though I think Vietnam is a beautiful place with so many great destinations, I would not want to go back to Vietnam again unless I feel that the government has taken steps to improve the quality of life, the roads condition, and clean up the pollution. I am sure that I am not the only one who feels that way! Imagine Vietnam as the next Hawaii!
When I was there, I did notice that the tourist industry in Vietnam has already applied this method in their business. In one of the places I visited, the tourist company basically hired the entire village to row boats. This gave jobs to the villagers and attracts tourists who wants to ride around in those boats. The only problem here was that there was very little to no safety measures enforced to protect the tourists from accidents (this is where the government needs to step in). The boats were so old, I swear they could have sank at any moment. On top of that, the operators of the boats are typical Vietnamese men – Jackasses.
But aside from those small mishaps, the idea behind this is solid. Like my title said, build it and they will come!