Nghe An aims to become a tourist center of the North Central region

(Baonghean) - The Resolution of the 18th Congress of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee for the 2015-2020 term identifies tourism as an important economic sector of the province. To achieve that goal, one of the top priorities for the province's tourism industry in particular is to focus on creating truly outstanding tourism products with quality commensurate with the potential.

Nghe An province, Uncle Ho's hometown with Kim Lien relic site - a special national relic; has a system of beautiful beaches, notably Cua Lo; Vinh city associated with Phuong Hoang - Trung Do relic, Quang Trung King temple; a rich system of historical - cultural relics associated with unique festivals; has Vi and Giam folk songs, world cultural heritage; and the West with primeval forest areas, many famous scenic spots, imbued with the cultural identity of ethnic minorities... is considered a province with excellent tourism resources. Moreover, Nghe An is also a tourist transit point in the country with foreign tourism, especially neighboring countries Laos and Thailand.

Giang River tourism in Pu Mat National Park. Photo SM

In order to exploit the potential and advantages of tourism, Nghe An has made many efforts in tourism development, especially in infrastructure. Up to now, the whole province has nearly 700 hotels and other accommodation facilities with over 16,000 rooms, including 2 5-star hotels, 5 4-star hotels, 12 3-star hotels...; there are more than 40 travel agencies, including 14 international travel centers. Dining establishments and shopping services have also developed strongly, capable of providing quality products and services to tourists when coming to Nghe An.

Faced with increasingly high demands for tourism development, exploiting unique values, Nghe An has signed cooperation agreements with 14 provinces in the North - South Central region; opened and introduced more international flights, Vinh - Khanh Hoa route; mobilized businesses to participate in the international culinary festival in Thua Thien Hue, coordinated with the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center to promote tourism of the two provinces, signed a cooperation agreement to develop tourism in 4 provinces: Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and increased seminars, built tourism products for 4 provinces in the North Central region...

At the same time, strengthen the connection of Nam Dan - Vinh - Cua Lo - Truong Bon (Do Luong) tourist route; strongly develop community tourism in the West... With those efforts, in 2015 the number of guests staying reached 3.65 million, tourism service revenue reached 2,680 billion VND, an increase of 21%.

However, in general, the tourism sector of Nghe An not only has not developed commensurate with its potential, but also has an unstable growth quality. The most obvious limitation of Nghe An tourism is that tourism products have not had a breakthrough change.

Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien - Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute once commented: It is regrettable that Nghe An has not yet brought its tourist attractions to a high level so that tourists can see the unique, distinctive values ​​that they have enjoyed for the first time. Like building Kim Lien, Uncle Ho's hometown, into a sacred land, a place where sacred energy, good luck and good fortune converge, a place where Ho Chi Minh's spirit and Ho Chi Minh's culture combine to attract and gather humanity - like Uncle Ho had previously drawn the whole world to Vietnam, making the whole world love Vietnam... Then, famous like Cua Lo beach, basically only stops at sea bathing and seafood tourism, monotonous and short-term.

In the immediate future, the province will focus on developing a master plan and strategy for Nghe An tourism development until 2030, with a vision to 2050; planning the Kim Lien - Nam Dan Historical and Cultural Relic Complex into a National Tourist Area to submit to the Prime Minister for approval; gradually building and implementing plans for the tourist areas of Ngu Island, Vuc Mau Lake, Ve Vung Lake, Trang Den Lake, Xuan Duong Lake, Ban Mong Lake... with a focus on investment promotion.

Mai Anh