Linking tourism development of 4 North Central provinces: Still each doing their own thing

Attending the conference, on the side of Nghe An province, there was comrade Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Coordination Board for tourism development of Nghe An - Thanh Hoa - Ha Tinh - Quang Binh; leaders of the Department of Tourism, relevant departments and branches.

On the side of Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces, there were representatives of the Provincial People's Committee and Department of Tourism.

Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Minh Thong delivered a welcome speech to the delegates attending the conference. Photo: Phuoc Anh

Discuss a few specific matters, not too much.

At the conference, delegates representing the tourism industry of the four provinces "dissected" very frankly the process of tourism cooperation in the past time. Mr. Le Tran Sang - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Tinh province pointed out that in 2017, although a cooperation agreement was signed to develop tourism in the four North Central provinces, in reality, little work was done. The form, content and cooperation activities were still monotonous and lacked depth, so the spread was not high. Along with that, there was no brand identity to position the destinations of the four provinces; the budget allocated for cooperation activities was limited and unstable.

Mr. Sang commented: "In my opinion, we should only discuss a few specific things that are feasible, not too much"!

Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Tinh province said: Let's discuss some specific things that can be done, we shouldn't discuss too much. Photo: Phuoc Anh

Agreeing with Mr. Le Tran Sang, Mr. Nguyen Van Ky - Deputy Director of Quang Binh Province Department of Tourism said that weak connectivity is reflected in many aspects. In recent years, the 4 provinces have been more or less affected by marine environmental incidents, directly affecting the tourism industry, but due to lack of connectivity, there is no common voice to propose a support policy for tourism to overcome difficulties.

In addition, regarding the quality of tourism human resources, all four provinces have limitations in foreign languages. “However, we have not sat down together to see if there is any solution to overcome this problem, and how to work with training institutions,” said Mr. Ky.

The head of Nghe An Department of Tourism is concerned about the tourism growth rate of the four provinces. Photo: Phuoc Anh

The head of Nghe An Department of Tourism, Nguyen Manh Cuong, frankly expressed his opinion on the growth rate of tourism in the four provinces. In 2017, the number of tourists visiting the four provinces reached more than 19.7 million, an increase of 35.75% compared to 2016, of which international visitors reached more than 450,000, an increase of 71.25% compared to 2016. "Such a growth rate is very positive, but the question is whether that rate is sustainable? If it increases further in 2018, will the current accommodation facilities and tourism services of the four provinces be able to meet the demand?" - Mr. Cuong said.

In the spirit of specific discussion, the conference focused on discussing the main contents: participating in promotion fairs; identifying international markets to exploit together, namely Thailand and China; identifying a common tourism product set, namely sea tourism; on that basis, building a common tourism brand identity for the four provinces...

Separate policies but must aim at common goals

Thach Hai beach, Ha Tinh is increasingly attracting many tourists to visit and relax. Photo: Internet

At the conference, representatives of the provinces exchanged and discussed a number of policies to support tourism development. The Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Tinh province said that the province has just applied two very beneficial policies.

Firstly, businesses coming to Ha Tinh to build tourism projects, if they are in line with the province's planning, will be supported with 4% interest; businesses buying tourist transport cars with 16 seats or more or yachts, tourist ships, etc. will also be supported with 4% interest. Secondly, any Ha Tinh travel company that sets up representative offices in other provinces and brings tourists to Ha Tinh will be supported with 150 million; travel companies from other provinces that set up offices and bring tourists to Ha Tinh will also be supported with funding. This policy applies from January 1, 2018 until 2025.

Cave exploration tourism is an attractive tourism product of Quang Binh province. Photo: Internet

Quang Binh province has also taken many positive steps to "give wings" to tourism. Vice Chairman of Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee Tran Tien Dung revealed that the province has just spent 80,000 USD to make a promotional film on an American TV channel. Quang Binh also has a support policy for restaurant construction of 500,000 VND/m2, 3-star hotels are supported with 500 million VND, 5-star hotels are not more than 2 billion VND...

Representing the tourism sector of Thanh Hoa province - Ms. Vuong Thi Hai Yen - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism also shared that the province is very interested in investing in tourism and in 2018 will continue to allocate a budget of 30 billion VND for the field identified as "key".

“Thus, on the basis of the mechanisms, policies and resources of the state, there is no reason why the four provinces cannot strengthen effective cooperation. Each province has its own policy but the goals must be agreed upon,” Ms. Yen said, emphasizing, “at least each province has several hundred million VND for tourism promotion activities, it cannot be said that there is no money. So at this conference, we agree on specific activities, once signed, we must do it, we cannot wait until then and then withdraw”!

Concluding the conference, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Minh Thong - Head of the Coordination Board for Tourism Development of Nghe An - Thanh Hoa - Ha Tinh - Quang Binh in 2017 assessed that 2018 is an important year for cooperation in tourism development of localities. Based on the contents agreed at the conference, the provinces need to regularly exchange and learn experiences, strengthen coordination in training, improve the quality of human resources, continue to develop traditional tours and routes and build new tourism products...

Tourism Associations of four provinces signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop tourism. Photo: Phuoc Anh

At the conference, the Tourism Association of the four provinces of Nghe An - Thanh Hoa - Ha Tinh - Quang Binh signed a tourism cooperation agreement in 2018. At the same time, the role of Head of the Tourism Development Coordination Board of Nghe An - Thanh Hoa - Ha Tinh - Quang Binh in 2018 was transferred to Thanh Hoa province.