Recently, during a business trip to Da Lat city, Lam Dong province, we stayed at a hotel located on Bui Thi Xuan street, close to Xuan Huong lake area. Talking to the hotel staff, we learned that this hotel had just changed owners to a business from Nghe An. The transfer value of the hotel was over 450 billion VND; if this business invested in building a hotel in its hometown, Nghe An, the province would have another ideal accommodation facility for tourists.
Discussing this thought-provoking story with travel agencies in Nghe An, we learned that this is not an isolated phenomenon. Many businesses in Nghe An have been investing in tourism in Da Lat, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc…; not only building hotels, some businesses have also built resorts to experience medicinal herbs associated with Zen… Why is this happening? I think it is all about profit!
In fact, when comparing the potential and advantages of Nghe An tourism with other localities, it is easy to see that Nghe An tourism has many disadvantages. First of all, Nghe An tourism is influenced by high seasonality, due to extremely harsh weather, summer temperatures are always the highest in the country, winter temperatures are low, and the rainy season often has storms and floods. Nghe An currently has only a short tourist season from April to August every year.
Nghe An is still a province with many difficulties, the budget revenue is not enough to cover expenses, the budget for investment in tourism infrastructure is very limited. Along with that, the spending level and quality of life of Nghe An people are not high... Not to mention, the terrain is complex, the transportation system connecting destinations is not really convenient. Although the province always tries to attract investment and has many preferential policies, there are still places where the situation of "spreading carpets above, spreading nails below" is still left. In an interview with us, businessman X. (who asked to remain anonymous - PV) said: “The provincial leaders are very good, paying attention and creating favorable conditions; however, there are some cadres and units below that are not like that. To get permission to build a hotel, we had to go through many departments, agencies, and branches... and needed 15 signatures; it took a whole year to complete the paperwork. Such administrative procedures are still cumbersome and time-consuming, and investors cannot wait forever...”.
Meanwhile, the nature of investment activities is to make a profit. Investors who invest capital always want to recover their capital and make a profit as quickly, as much as possible. The cumbersome and troublesome administrative procedures are unfavorable factors that reduce investment attraction, especially for large investors. There are opinions affirming: with investment packages of hundreds, thousands of billions of VND, if they do not see openness and convenience, investors will certainly choose the provinces from Hai Van Pass to the South - where tourism can be exploited all year round, with many international tourists. Nghe An in particular, the North Central provinces in general will only be the "priority" last choice!.
It can be affirmed that strategic and classy investors play a very important role in creating fundamental changes in the Vietnamese tourism industry in general and the tourism industry of localities in particular. Nghe An is no exception.
For comparison: with the appearance of large corporations such as Sun Group, Vingroup, FLC, Thien Minh... the socio-economic face of Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Da Nang, Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Sam Son (Thanh Hoa)... tourism products in particular have shown their superiority. The above localities are really making an impression on domestic and international tourists, shaping the position of regional tourism centers... At the same time, the appearance of large investors there has created great attraction, a strong push for many other secondary investors to participate in investment.
In Nghe An, in recent times, a number of strategic investors have been attracted to develop tourism services. One of them is Muong Thanh Group with Muong Thanh - Dien Lam Tourist Area (Dien Chau) and a chain of 3-5 star hotels in Vinh city, Cua Lo town, Hoang Mai town, Dien Chau district, Con Cuong district. The presence of Muong Thanh hotel chain has partly met the need to organize national and regional events in the province, creating a new step in the quality of tourism services in Nghe An.
Following Muong Thanh Group, Vingoup Group has invested in Vinpearl Cua Hoi Beach Resort, providing luxurious and classy rooms and villas. Currently, Vingroup is investing in building an entertainment complex and cable car from Cua Hoi to Song Ngu Island, promising to bring interesting discoveries and experiences, contributing to attracting and "retaining" tourists when coming to the coastal city of Cua Lo. Recently, Bac A Bank has consulted on investing in the construction of the Khuon River Complex Project in Do Luong District; it is expected that by mid-2025, the project will open, creating conditions for tourists to experience traditional indigenous culture, Vietnamese village culture, etc.
In addition to the above-mentioned large projects, Nghe An also has a number of new high-end resorts and hotels under construction, such as the Bai Lu Resort and Villa Complex Phase II of Tan A Dai Thanh Group; the North Lan Chau Island Resort (Cua Lo) of Golden City Company, etc.
However, the total number of high-class investors coming to Nghe An is still modest. The preliminary report on 5 years of implementing Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW, dated January 16, 2017 of the Politburo on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector of the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee clearly stated: "Not attracting many professional investors, foreign investors with strong financial potential with large-scale projects, unique and high-class services to attract high-spending customers, bringing in large revenues"... In March 2023, the Steering Committee for Administrative Reform of Nghe An province was established with the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee as the Head of the Steering Committee. This demonstrates Nghe An's strong determination in administrative reform.
To create a favorable environment to attract investors, Mr. Nguyen Manh Loi - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Tourism, said: Nghe An tourism infrastructure has not met the development needs. We are also lacking large clean land funds to attract strategic investors in tourism. Thus, to attract investors, we need to do a good job of planning to orient investment attraction in areas and fields that are suitable for potential and development advantages, ensuring sustainable development requirements; speed up land use planning for the whole province and districts to promptly serve socio-economic development; arrange land funds for investment and call for investment in tourism and resort projects. At the same time, focus on mobilizing and effectively using capital sources for development investment, construction of technical infrastructure and social infrastructure.
The reality in Nghe An is showing that, in the current conditions of the province, investing in tourism infrastructure is very difficult. Currently, it will be difficult to find investors willing to "join" hands with the locality to invest in infrastructure, accompanying a long-term tourism development strategy. Therefore, some opinions suggest that the locality should research and target investors who are Nghe An people to attract them with the spirit of standing side by side with their homeland; in which, there is still a crucial factor: the locality must create the most favorable and sincere conditions, so that investors can see the safety and trust when cooperating to invest and develop together.
