Marathon and tourism in Phu Yen
Update: Apr 10, 2024
For the first time, Phu Yen welcomed a large number of guests including athletes and fans to attend the 65th Tien Phong Newspaper Marathon and Long Distance National Championship - 2024. According to experts, sport is the bridge to promote tourism, in which the marathon is a good condition for marketing and PR, bringing economic efficiency and tourism development to the locality. 

Athletes participating in the 65th Tien Phong Newspaper Marathon and Long Distance National Championship - 2024 running on the coastal road of Phu Yen

The 65th Tien Phong Newspaper Marathon and Long Distance National Championship - 2024 (Tien Phong Marathon 2024) held in Phu Yen has just ended in the joy and excitement of most athletes and participants cheer for the tournament.

The tournament left an extremely good imprint in the hearts of athletes and tourists about a land with so many beautiful landscapes and a rich diversity of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In particular, the enthusiasm and unconditional support of the community and local people for the running race, for the athletes and friends in country and abroad, made it impossible for them to forget "the people’s love of the Nau land".

Only on the social networking site Facebook, millions, tens of millions of individuals have written articles and shared information about the first national-scale running race held in Phu Yen. This has brought about an extremely large spillover effect, the benefits of which cannot be quantified.

On the Google search system, just type the keywords: Tien Phong Marathon 2024, Phu Yen marathon... in less than 30 seconds, millions of results will appear. On social networking sites Facebook, Zalo, Viber..., tens of millions of accounts have posted information about the marathon held in Phu Yen.

That's not to mention the information about the tournament on the official mass media across the country, which all reported news, articles, and photos before, during, and after the tournament.

Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Thai, Director of the Phu Yen Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Head of the Propaganda Content Subcommittee of the tournament, informed that numerous newspapers and television nationwide reported on the tournament through the press conference of the organizing committee (in Hanoi and Phu Yen). Newspapers and radio agencies also exploited information to serve the needs of readers. The official press is an important, effective, and timely propaganda channel that provides information about the tournament, as well as about the land and people of Phu Yen to readers and tourists.

As soon as Tien Phong Marathon 2024 ended, numerous personal accounts quickly shared the status content of Bao Luu Quang's account, expressing their feelings about the running race in the Nau land.

Bao Luu Quang's account raised the issue and affirmed that Tien Phong Marathon 2024 in Phu Yen is not just a simple running race but it has been upgraded to become a "running culture": If Tien Phong Marathon is a national tournament on marathon and long distance, while Phu Yen is a coastal province in the South Central Coast, Tien Phong and Phu Yen are no longer simply a running race, they have truly created a "running culture".

In recent years, the marathon movement has flourished in Vietnam, as people realize its true value and actively practice to improve their health and surpass themselves. From scale, number of participants to terrain, running has become quite a popular sport for numerous ages. Specifically this time, the number of athletes participating was nearly 12,000, setting a record for Tien Phong Marathon.

It can be seen that the marathon is a sporting event, with the number of participants numbering in the thousands, and is an extremely good opportunity for marketing and PR for tourism, bringing in revenue for the locality. One person participating in the race brings along friends and relatives to cheer for them. The costs of travel, food, accommodation, entertainment, and shopping bring enormous economic and promotional benefits.

Happily, recently, numerous localities have realized the effectiveness and value of marathons. According to incomplete statistics, each year there are about 50 large-scale marathons and half-marathon tournaments. According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Vice President of the Southeast Asian Athletics Federation, General Secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation, the main reason running has become one of the most developed sports in Vietnam is the community of runners flourished, training is easy and there is good coordination between tournament organizers and localities.

With the practical benefits of the marathon tournament, localities can completely combine marathon and tourism development.

Translated by Hai Loan

Phu Yen News - baophuyen.vn - Apr 8, 2024