
Speed is often the by word for many travel businesses in Viet Nam. However, hitting many highlights in a short amount of time – the usual modus operandi of tour companies in the region – has a serious drawback. Travelers only get superficial impressions of the places they are re-visiting, without talking to the locals or truly experiencing the native culture.
Slow Travel Hue founder Do Phuong, however, believes in taking it easy – for the tourist’s benefit. “Slow Travel is about valuing experiences over sightseeing,” Mr. Phuong explains. “It is not literally about traveling slowly – it is about participating in locals’ ordinary daily activities, to learn how they live: their food, art & architecture, local beliefs, language.”
As opposed to fast-paced mass tourism, Slow Travel shifts the focus from the destination’s “where and what” (location and things) to the “why and how” (Purpose and Experiences). “This lets us see the familiar with new eyes: we reinvent existing places with insightful discovery and a meaningful purpose,”
Mr. Phuong says. “In other words, Slow Travel is about connecting with people and places.”
In the edited interview below, Mr. Phuong explains the core of Slow Travel, its benefits, and how his company Slow Travel Hue has changed the tourism status quo in Central Vietnam.
Why is Vietnam an ideal destination to experience slow travel?
Vietnam is so rich in natural and cultural heritage. There is a great diversity in terms of landscape, ethnic cultures, cuisine, arts, and crafts, etc.
It is such a pity to see many tour operators offer “grand” tours with a jam-packed itinerary from North to South in nine or ten days. This kind of “fast” travel only brings superficial sightseeing, and leaves out many unique features that Vietnam has to offer.
The tourist return rate of Vietnam is very low, as they seem to have seen it all in one trip, without great satisfaction. We need a paradigm shift to make tourism a force for good.
Slow Travel dives deeper into each destination and community to make each place unique and worthy for a longer stay. Instead of selling one trip, we can create many one-week to ten-day trips around different parts of Vietnam. Slow Travel gives national DMCs, local service providers, and involved communities an opportunity to show their creativity and gain more positive benefits from tourism.

How did you get started in the travel business?
I was born and raised in Hue, the former imperial city of Vietnam. I studied Tourism Management and pursued my master’s degree in France in two tourism-related majors. Back in Vietnam, I worked in a reputable DMC and led product development, destinations marketing, and sustainability management efforts.
Hue used to be a must-see for all Vietnam trips; it later failed to retain foreign tourists for long stay (1.5 day in average). There was a lack of creative tourism product development, unfavorable weather (too hot in summer and too humid, rainy in winter) whereas there has been a wealth of mankind and natural potentials around Hue.
We found an urge to do something together to bring back the attractiveness of Hue and regenerate more benefits for the local community. So I founded Slow Travel Hue in 2014.
Our first thought was to create a local immersion tour that used the rickshaw “cyclo” to travel leisurely at slow pace. However, after deeper analysis, we changed the products to cultural tours using bicycles as primary transportation. The rickshaw is still there, an alternative for those who don’t cycle or for the evening foodie cyclo tour.
How well was the new tourism concept received in Hue?
We started in February 2014 with two thematic day trips to the villages near Hue. We intentionally crafted these experiences as a full-day tour, compared to other tourism companies that included them for two-hour quick visits by car.
Everyone was accustomed to planning Hue for one-day sightseeing; it was hard to convince any tour operator to spend more time in Hue for one more “special tour”. Thanks to supportive DMCs, our experiential tours debuted in ITB Berlin that same year, leading discerning tour operators to include us in their upcoming brochures.
Today, our portfolio is still focused on Hue, Central Vietnam, but now includes other niches: food tourism, garden house staycation, plant-based wellness tourism, creative tourism, and nature immersion (hiking and camping).

Has the expanded product portfolio also lengthened the time tourists stay in Hue?
Responsible tour operators now feel confident enough to offer their guests three-night stays in Hue with a variety of enriching experiences. While this is not yet mainstream, we feel more tour operators are promoting this green city for authentic experiences.
Many specialist tour operators now promote our immersions as a must-do. Others have started to add our foodie, home dining experiences as a “unique selling proposition” for their Vietnam packages and escorted group series.
Our first thoughts of tourism by cyclo have also been affirmed, because our local immersions are more popular. The “foodie evening by cyclo” is now more in demand, and our grassroot suppliers now have more stable services and decent income.
What support do you, as a travel entrepreneur, get from your government? What is your relationship like with the local governments/tourism boards where Slow Travel Hue has operations?
Vietnam National Administration for Tourism (VNAT), agriculture ministries in general, and the Hue local authority are committed to sustainably developing the rural economy and green economy. For this reason, rural tourism and sustainable initiatives like Slow Travel Hue’s offerings are on the same page.
Thanks to the government, many enhancements were made to public green spaces, creating safe cycling areas for guests to travel slowly and safely. The government also welcomes new ideas of tourism development that make a positive impact to local populations, preserving and promoting heritage and culture.

What is the state of travel infrastructure in Vietnam now? How has it improved over the past few years, and what improvements need to be made still?
It has improved over the past ten years. Thanks to the many improvements in terms of roads, access, and tourist facilities, you can now travel smoothly in the northwestern mountains or central highlands of Vietnam on a self-driving car, with more quality accommodations to break along the journey and stay longer for local exploration.
What improvements still need to be made? I think increasing train travel can be an interesting objective to fulfill. Travelling by train is very eco-friendly and goes well with Slow Travel. Vietnam Railway Company can enhance the facilities and onboard service to make this the first choice for travelers to explore Vietnam comfortably and conveniently.
Equally, public transportation, electric bus, and interprovince buses still have room for improvement, to cope with the demands of eco-conscious travelers.
Why is Vietnam so suitable for bicycle travel?
Vietnam is also a great country for cycling holidays thanks to its diverse geography and cultural richness. Particularly for leisure travelers, Hue is an ideal place to enjoy the art of slow travel by bicycle.
The first reason lies in the diversity of landscape and topography. Mountains occupy 70% of the area. The rivers, streams, lagoons represent 20%. The farming and living delta share the remaining 10%. That terrain is like a miniature of Vietnam.
Secondly, the proximity of tourist destinations. Most of Hue’s scenic spots are located within a radius of about 50 km from the city center. Indeed, you can slowly explore Hue and the surrounding area only with a bicycle.
Thirdly, Hue citizens enjoy a slow living lifestyle and love cycling themselves. The city is on its way to becoming a smart, plastic-free, and cycling-friendly city.

How does your business promote sustainable travel? Bicycle travel is one – it’s low-emission tourism. What other sustainable travel methods does Slow Travel Hue practice?
For us, sustainable tourism is no longer a niche. We absorb lessons from other sustainability management systems (such as Travelife), learn global recommended best practices, and keep on implementing concrete action toward better travel choices. Essentially, we walk the talk.
Our multifaceted approach covers Economic, Social, Cultural, Environmental factors in the following activities:
- Staying at a garden-house, cooking a home meal with the hosts promotes healthy and local eating and generates more income for the owner than a passerby visit.
- Using alternative transport as rowing sampan or fishermen boat, rickshaw, helping local craftsmen or farmers help generate equitable economic benefits and improve local livelihood.
- Helping visitors and tour guides to actively share culture in a respectful way will raise awareness in promoting responsible tourism and preservation.
In our daily operations, we also strive to practice rethink-reduce-reuse and move toward zero waste tours. We always use cold cotton towels (reusable) instead of plastic wrapped wet tissue, reduce single use plastic bottles, and offer guests the possibility to refill during our stops, eco-friendly travel amenities like natural soap, bamboo, glass and so on.
Is there a connection between Slow Travel (as a concept) and sustainable travel?
Yes, we can confirm that Slow Travel adheres to many principles and criteria of sustainable travel.
Slow Travel encourages conscious and purposeful connection between the visitor and the destination, including its people, culture and all the “quirky details”. It implies travel less and staying longer at each place, using forms of travel that both reduce GHG emission and to increase immersion.
Through all these shifts, it regenerates a more positive impact on the local economy, environment, culture and people. It will help to ease overtourism, pollution in some areas as well.
Slow Travel Hue is a humble travel experience creator. Our dedicated team rolls out small objectives on a small scale. More importantly, we keep on learning, inspiring, spreading the snowball so that visitors, operators, local communities, hosts, guests and guides regenerate a better tourism impact where we operate.
To book your own slow travel itinerary in Central Vietnam, visit Slow Travel Hue’s website, or check out their Facebook page.