Proposed waterfall visit fee is 30,000 VND/adult/time

Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong - Director of Pu Mat National Park. Photo: Thanh Cuong

On the morning of July 19, during the discussion session at the conference hall, mentioning the necessity to issue a resolution on this issue, Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong - Director of Pu Mat National Park said that currently, the Kem waterfall tourist area has not had investment for a long time, leading to difficulties in organizing management, environmental sanitation, ensuring security and order, and visiting conditions, especially the issue of reinvesting in activities serving tourists.

Therefore, recently this unit has advised the Provincial People's Committee to propose the Provincial People's Council to consider issuing a fee to serve this activity again.

Speaking at the discussion session, Mr. Tran Duy Ngoan - Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association of Nghe An province, expressed his strong agreement with the issuance of a resolution regulating the entrance fee to Pu Mat National Park in order to have funds to honor and protect this heritage.

Pu Mat National Park is a special-use forest in the west of Nghe An province, established under Decision No. 174/2001/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister dated November 8, 2001 on upgrading Pu Mat Nature Reserve into a National Park.

Pu Mat National Park is currently identified as the core zone of the Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve recognized by UNESCO in 2007.

However, this delegate of Hoang Mai town also expressed some concerns regarding the fee collection level at some locations.

The entrance fee for Kem waterfall for adults is 30,000 VND/person/trip, which is still high and it is proposed to reduce it to 20,000 VND/person/trip. According to the delegate, because this area has not yet received adequate investment in services and if collected, it should be collected from other services.

Similarly, delegate Tran Duy Ngoan also said that the entrance fee to the primeval forest (applied to all common tourist routes to Khe Choang, Khe Thoi, Khe Khang...) for adults is 50,000 VND/trip/person, which is still high and proposed to reduce it to 40,000 VND/trip/person.

According to delegate Tran Duy Ngoan, the reason is that visiting the core area of ​​the park is very difficult and dangerous, making it difficult for tourists to access; while Khe Choang, Khe Thoi, and Khe Khang areas are only in the outer areas but still have no services.

Delegate Tran Duy Ngoan speaks at the discussion session in the hall. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In response, Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong said that during the process of consulting on the draft, Pu Mat National Park calculated all related contents, especially applying them similarly to national parks across the country.

Mr. Cuong also said that compared to the regulations in Circular 206/2016 of the Ministry of Finance, this unit has proposed to reduce the fee to only half of the fee for visiting other national parks.

Regarding the entrance fee to the primeval forest, the Director of Pu Mat National Park added: the entrance fee for adults is 50,000 VND/person/day, not 50,000 VND/trip/person.

"Visiting the primeval forest cannot be done by individuals and must be organized into tours, routes, and groups, so there must be support and service people, so this is calculated by day, not by turn," Mr. Cuong explained.

As planned, the draft Resolution deciding on the collection level, collection, payment, management, and use of entrance fees at Pu Mat National Park, Nghe An province was considered and decided by the Provincial People's Council at the working session on the morning of July 20.

Kem Waterfall (Khe Kem) is a famous destination in Con Cuong. Photo courtesy

The draft resolution sets out specific entrance fees:

Pu Mat National Park Office Area for adults is 10,000 VND/person/time; for children is 5,000 VND/time/person.

Kem Waterfall: for adults 30,000 VND/trip/person; for children 10,000 VND/trip/person;...

Free: children under 6 years old or children under 1.2m tall, people with severe disabilities.

The subjects who receive a 50% reduction in fees are people with severe disabilities and the elderly.

The Draft Resolution also stipulates that in case a person is eligible for both fee exemption and reduction policies as prescribed in the above points, the entrance fee will be reduced by 50%.