Come & Go Vietnam Blog

Steve Jackson, the man behind the excellent Our Man in Hanoi blog, left a very thought-provoking comment on my piece about Vietnam’s sexy new tourism ambassador. Steve says:  “Elsewhere tourism bosses were talking about utilising Facebook to promote tourism while FB remains blocked. How about not blocking Facebook – there would be a way of allowing people to post pics of their travels to friends while in Vietnam. More WIFI here than anywhere I’ve ever been so why not make something out of that and let people share those great images.”

It’s a really good point. As the world’s biggest social network, Facebook has become pretty much the default channel for travellers wishing to share updates, anecdotes, photos & videos with their friends & family while they travel. It’s quicker, easier & less intrusive than email, more versatile than Twitter, and a lot less hassle (and less likely to be abandoned after a few days) than a travel blog. And Vietnam has free WiFi everywhere – in the cities, and increasingly in the countryside, virtually every bar, cafe and restaurant is offering free WiFi.

BUT, Vietnam still insists on blocking Facebook (not, as many think, for political reasons, but economic ones – to save bandwidth for, and encourage take up of, domestic social networks), and in doing so, it is blocking a potentially highly effective, and free, channel for word-of-mouth advertising. Instead of logging into Facebook and telling their friends how great Vietnam is, and showing off their photos, tourists are complaining that they can’t access Facebook. This is not a good thing.