In Nghe An province, there are many cultural and spiritual works that are heritages of Vietnamese cultural resources. These include Con Temple (Hoang Mai town, considered the most sacred temple in Nghe An), Cuong Temple (Dien Chau, associated with the legend of An Duong Vuong), Quang Trung Temple (Vinh city, worshiping King Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue), Dai Tue Pagoda (Nam Dan) and especially Hoang Muoi Temple (Hung Nguyen, worshiping Duc Thanh Hoang Muoi - an important figure in the system of temples worshiping the Mother Goddesses of the Three Palaces and Four Palaces of the Vietnamese people)...
However, in recent times, the above mentioned cultural and spiritual works have not attracted visitors as expected; and it must be admitted that even domestic tourists have not been impressed or aware of the value of these relics. And after visiting here, many tourists are not satisfied with the landscape space, service style there... Meeting during a pilgrimage to Hoang Muoi Temple, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (in Hanoi) expressed: Here, I see that the arrangement of parking lots and trading places is not scientific, making the temple less solemn.
Hoang Muoi Temple is a very famous destination, especially for people in the North who follow the worship of the Mother Goddesses of the Three Palaces and Four Palaces. However, Hoang Muoi Temple has not yet been as effective a spiritual destination for tourists as Hoang Bay Temple (Bao Yen District, Lao Cai Province) or Củi Temple (Nghi Xuan District, Ha Tinh Province). While tourists and pilgrims come to Hoang Bay Temple and Củi Temple all year round, Hoang Muoi Temple is only crowded during the main festival season (early and late year).
The limitations of the "destination" goal of Hoang Muoi Temple are mentioned as follows: Promotion work is still weak; lack of necessary and appropriate signs; on-site service infrastructure does not meet the needs of tourists; there is no connection between the temple and other relics in the province; the landscape space around the temple is still monotonous; environmental sanitation work has not been taken care of regularly, especially the Vinh Giang River area in front of the temple... A practical comparison: Also worshiping Duc Thanh Hoang Muoi, Cui Temple has a more beautiful landscape space, Lam River flows in front of Cui Temple with boats on the wharf and under the boat with poetic scenery...
For many years, the Kim Lien National Special Relic Site has been a key tourist attraction in Nghe An province. Every year, the site welcomes 1.2 - 2 million visitors, with some days seeing up to 500 groups of tens of thousands of visitors. However, the Kim Lien National Special Relic Site has yet to satisfy visitors. Many visitors have expressed regret that there are no food and accommodation services; when they "return to their roots", they cannot enjoy a meal with a rustic flavor, nor stay a night to feel the peaceful atmosphere of Uncle Ho's homeland.
Mr. Phan Trong Hoa, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, shared his feelings: “There is no accommodation service at Kim Lien Relic Site, after visiting we had to return to Vinh City. The souvenir sales service is not really organized, lacking control. The types of souvenirs sold here do not include many local specialties; there are many types of goods that are not suitable for souvenirs or gifts. The areas to experience the pure Vietnamese countryside around Uncle Ho's house have monotonous, similar motifs, not unique. This is just to show visitors the model, not to experience. Folk song performances seem to only take place on some holidays.”
According to travel businesses, spiritual tourism and returning to the source is one of the most important types to attract tourists, because this is a type of tourism that can take place all year round, not affected by the season. Nghe An - the homeland of President Ho Chi Minh with a massive system of relics has a lot of potential and advantages to develop this type. However, in the past, the results of tourism in general and spiritual tourism and returning to the source brought to Nghe An are still too small, not commensurate with the potential.
Mr. Ta Khac Uyen - Vice President of Nghe An Tourism Association, Head of Nghe An Travel Association commented: The quantity and value of the relics in Nghe An are very large, however, it must be said that the number of pilgrims is not much, especially when compared with the number of tourists visiting the relics and spiritual cultural works in the provinces of Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Quang Ninh, Tay Ninh or An Giang... According to statistics, every year the number of pilgrims to Ba Den Mountain (Tay Ninh) is about 10 million, to Ba Chua Xu Temple in San Chau Doc Mountain (An Giang) is also about 10 million. It should be noted that the spiritual cultural factor in the South is not as highly regarded as in the North and Central regions, and among the pilgrims to the above locations, there are many people from Nghe An.
Why has spiritual tourism and returning to the source not developed in Nghe An? According to our research: In recent years, all levels, sectors and localities in the province have made many efforts in protecting, restoring and embellishing relics. However, the promotion of the value of relics has only stopped at enhancing traditional education and satisfying the spiritual needs of local people, and has not really been linked to the goal of tourism development. In Nghe An, there are currently no relics that sell entrance tickets. There is a lack of tourism products and services around the relics and surrounding areas for visitors to experience. In short, spiritual tourism and returning to the source have not been valued as much as they should be.
Next, the promotion of spiritual tourism and returning to the source in Nghe An has not been invested in. While other localities have known how to "breathe life" into existing spiritual values to "attract" tourists and widely promote values and stories, in Nghe An, many local people themselves still do not know clearly about the relics where they live. For example, many people do not know that Dai Tue Pagoda worshiping Buddha Dai Tue (Nam Dan) has been recognized by the Vietnam Record Association with 4 records: The pagoda on the mountain with the largest artificial lake; The pagoda with the largest system of ruby statues; The pagoda with the largest system of monolithic mulberry wood statues; The pagoda with the largest system of parallel sentences in pure Vietnamese calligraphy in Vietnam. Or they do not know about Lang Vac - the cradle of ancient Vietnamese people in the Northwest of the province.
Many spiritual destinations, but lacking supporting tourism products, or if there are, they are still fragmented and small, of course, the destination cannot be effectively promoted. For example, there is a lack of places to shop for local specialties, souvenirs are not diverse, and do not create a difference to attract tourists. Therefore, in the tour construction schedule, travel businesses only include prominent attractions; the visiting time is mainly for worshiping and sightseeing, with little attention paid to the time spent on shopping and especially the need for accommodation.
Currently, the regional connection, the connection between historical sites and other tourist attractions in Nghe An is not good, leading to the situation that tourists do not know where to go, besides the initial destination and pilgrimage to Kim Lien, Uncle Ho's hometown. Moreover, the historical sites are quite far apart, the attractiveness is still low, in the condition of narrow roads, undeveloped tourism infrastructure, making tourists have to consider whether to go or not to go...
Mr. Ta Khac Uyen - Vice President of Nghe An Tourism Association, Head of Nghe An Travel Association said: To develop spiritual tourism, Nghe An should only focus on building, developing, and promoting clusters of relics to stimulate demand, which are relics located in the triangle "Cua Lo - Vinh city - Nam Dan". Resorts and attractions of other types must also be located in this triangle. Other relics and attractions are only supplementary. Nghe An also needs to improve the quality of human resources. At the same time, it is necessary to diversify souvenir products, increase the introduction of local OCOP products from 3 stars or higher at destinations.