Bestowed with gorgeous natural landscapes and a diverse cultural space, the northern central province of Thanh Hoa has huge potential to branch out a wide range of tourism products, however, it faces calls for reform towards sustainable tourism development.
Sam Son beach
is a renowned tourist attraction in Thanh Hoa province. (Photo: VNA)
At a conference held in the
locality, on June 19, experts recommended that excellent tourism products must
have a close connection with the local people and culture, while calling for
more investment projects in tourism infrastructure.
Along with improving the efficiency
of investment promotion campaigns to lure businesses with financial strengths
to invest in strategic and high-end projects, it is necessary for the province
to develop standout tourism packages in conjunction with protecting natural
sceneries.
Furthermore, the province was
advised to join hands with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, the
eight northwestern provinces, the northern coastal provinces and the northern
central coastal localities to study and build common inter-regional tourism
products, they added.
Lauding the suggestions of the
experts, Vice Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and
Tourism Vuong Thi Hai Yen expressed her hope that the province’s tourism sector
would be accompanied by enterprises and media agencies in the near future.
The department will recommend
solutions to the provincial People’s Committee to popularise tourist
attractions, lure visitors and connect local tourism spots to create a
breakthrough for the non-smoke sector, promptly turning Thanh Hoa into a
national and international tourism hub, she said.
Last year, the province welcomed 7
million arrivals and earned VND 8 trillion (US$ 352 million) from tourism
services, up 11.5 percent from the same time last year. The locality targets to
serve 8.2 million visitors in 2018 and is eying VND 10.6 trillion (US$ 466.4
million) in tourism revenue.
Many renowned enterprises such as FLC and Sun
Group have poured capital into the local tourism sector. During 2015-2017, 18
tourism infrastructure projects were carried out, while investment licenses
were granted for 61 tourism projects with total registered capital of nearly
VND 62.5 trillion (US$ 2.75 billion).
Source: NDO
Covering an area of over 52,000 hectares spanning districts of Mai Chau, Tan Lac, Cao Phong, Da Bac, and Hoa Binh City, Hoa Binh lake has strong potential for tourism development. In recent years, thanks to the attention of local Party Committees and authorities as well as support from international organisations, the advantages of tourism in the lake area have been utilised.
Mai Chau is a mountainous district and home to many ethnic groups such as Thai, Muong, Kinh, Mong, Dao, and Tay with distinctive cultural identities, creating a diverse and unique cultural treasure. Aware of its advantages, the district has paid attention to the preservation and promotion of ethnic groups’ cultural values so that culture will become a leverage for tourism and contribute to socio-economic development and life quality improvement.
According to the Hoa Binh provincial Department of Planning and Investment, in Hoa Binh Lake tourist area, there are currently 16 licensed or certified service, cultural and tourism investment projects with a land use area of about 1,444 hectares, and a total capital of over 3.3 trillion VND (133.5 million USD). In addition to investment attraction, the province is speeding up the implementation of projects so as to realise a goal of developing Hoa Binh Lake tourist area into a national one.
These days, tourist attractions in Mai Chau district, especially those highlighted by the charming and romantic white Ban (Bauhinia) flower blossoms, are attracting a large number of visitors from across the country. Visiting these sites, tourists can immerse themselves in the pristine and majestic beauty of nature.