Song Ngu Son and the desire of Nghe people

(Baonghean) - “I am a native of Nghe An. When I open my eyes, I see the Lam River flowing, the mountains, the fields, and the villages of my hometown. Why don’t I return to Nghe An? I have to! The land of my hometown is very rich in potential. I could stay in Russia or anywhere else. But I still choose to invest in Nghe An simply because I am a native of Nghe An,..”

Mr. Tran Quoc Lam - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Song Ngu Son Joint Stock Company confided like that when we made the journey by high-speed canoe from Lan Chau peninsula to Ngu island. I have been to Ngu island many times, and still remember the uneasy, worried feelings when sitting on a bamboo raft with an engine to overcome the waves, or wobbling with a fisherman's motorboat to visit the island. Only this time, when making the journey by high-speed canoe gliding over the waves, did I find a feeling of comfort and excitement before the vast sky and water.

Tourists move to the pier to prepare to go to the island.

Canoe takes tourists to visit Ngu Island. Photo: Tran Hai

Canoe takes tourists to Ngu Island

In the sunlight, the beach of Cua Lo beach town appears faintly behind the waves constantly rising up beside the boat. Following Mr. Tran Quoc Lam's pointing arm, we looked towards Cua Hoi, where there is still a pristine area. Mr. Lam said that in the near future, Song Ngu Son Joint Stock Company will invest in 5 canoes to serve tourists on the route from Lan Chau Island to Ngu Island. In the near future, waterway tourism will be promoted along the Cua Lo - Nam Dan route through historical - spiritual tourist destinations such as: The relic site and tomb of the great poet Nguyen Du in Nghi Xuan - Ha Tinh; the temple of Emperor Quang Trung on Quyet mountain park in Vinh City, the Kim Lien relic site and the homeland of President Ho Chi Minh in Nam Dan; the tomb of King Mai Hac De, the memorial site of the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong...

Mr. Tran Quoc Lam - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Song Ngu Son Joint Stock Company (first row, right) is a pioneer in building the Cua Lo tourism brand.

The formation of waterway tourism service tours is just one of many investment items of the Lan Chau - Song Ngu ecological tourism complex, resort villas, entertainment and sports project. The project was approved by the People's Committee of Nghe An province by Decision 938/QD UBND-CNTM dated March 14, 2014. In the planning of tourism system development in Cua Lo coastal town, Song Ngu Son Joint Stock Company focuses on investing in 3 main clusters: Lan Chau island, Ngu island and Nghi Hoa ward area. Accordingly, Lan Chau island with an island area of ​​5.74 hectares and a sea surface of 11.12 hectares is arranged with works such as: square, resort hotel and resort, massage area, mud bath, mountain restaurant, wharf to the island. Ngu Island with an exploited area of ​​47,348 hectares and a sea surface of 38,945 hectares is arranged with a system of: 3-5 star hotels, spiritual tourism areas, fishing villages, indoor and outdoor entertainment areas, mountain resort villas, cable car stations, diving areas, water sports... In Nghi Hoa ward, a cable car system will be built connecting the mainland with Ngu Island, a culinary street, entertainment services...

Tourists enjoy the excitement of taking a canoe to the island.

Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Ha - General Director - Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Song Ngu Son Joint Stock Company said that the project's goal is to exploit the potential and advantages of Cua Lo's sea tourism, promote the development of infrastructure in the project area, attract domestic and international tourists to Cua Lo, promote the promotion of local scenic spots, create stable jobs for a part of the population in the area, contribute to the State budget, develop the socio-economy, contribute to the development of the tourism industry according to the province's orientation. In fact, in recent years, tourism activities in the town have developed strongly but mainly concentrated in the central area of ​​the town with the main form of beach resorts, other activities to retain visitors are still limited, tourism potential has not been promoted, there are no attractive entertainment areas, leading to poor tourism products, many tourists come just to swim and then leave, without enjoying other products. Therefore, in-depth investment in tourism services will contribute to increasing the number of tourists coming and staying longer in Cua Lo. Mr. Tran Quoc Lam also said that when the project is completed, tourists will come to the coastal town in all four seasons of the year, in particular, the company will aim to serve Asian tourists and tourists from Eastern European countries.

Tourists visit Ngu Island.

The Lan Chau - Song Ngu eco-tourism complex project was formed and implemented in the coastal town, demonstrating the strategic vision of Song Ngu Son Joint Stock Company in meeting the needs of tourists for tourism products. This is also the success of Cua Lo Town in attracting investment and improving the efficiency of tourism activities. Regarding this content, Mr. Nguyen Nam Dinh - Secretary of Cua Lo Town Party Committee said: One of the issues that the leaders of the Town Party Committee and the Town People's Committee have been implementing is to promote investment attraction, calling for large investment projects with the expectation that when the projects come into operation, they will fundamentally change the tourism infrastructure of Cua Lo. Thereby, it aims to better exploit the beach, offshore islands, and at the same time link and expand tours and routes with key tourist areas in neighboring areas. The Secretary of Cua Lo Town Party Committee also said that currently in Cua Lo Town, there are 2 major projects in the process of implementation.

Tourists step foot on Ngu Island

That is the project to build Muong Thanh Cua Lo hotel with a scale of 27 floors and 420 rooms. This project is expected to be completed and put into use in mid-2015 and will become a gathering place for organizing large-scale conferences and seminars. "Because up to now, conferences and seminars with a scale of about 500 people have had to be divided into many different locations. With the Muong Thanh Cua Lo hotel project, it is possible to organize meals, accommodation, and meetings at a single location, which is very convenient for tourists as well as for organizing conferences." - Mr. Nguyen Nam Dinh shared. Talking about the potential and development direction of tourism in the coastal city in the current context, the Secretary of the Cua Lo City Party Committee could not hide his excitement: "In addition to having a long and beautiful coastline of over 10 km, Cua Lo also has Lan Chau peninsula, offshore there are Ngu island and Mat island.Ngu Island has recently been approved by the Prime Minister and the Ministry of National Defense to be put into operation for tourism, combining defense and economy. Currently, the project has been implemented by the investor, completed the procedures for planning approval, granted the Investment Certificate and is implementing the first activities. I think this is a new feature of Cua Lo tourism in 2014. In the following years, this investor will implement the remaining items, the most important of which is the construction of a cable car connecting Ngu Island to the mainland. After completing the items, this will be a great attraction for domestic tourists, especially European tourists coming in the cold season."

In order to promote tourism and investment promotion activities, in recent times, the leaders of Cua Lo Town have focused on directing administrative reform, directing departments to create the most favorable and fastest conditions for investors to implement activities. The Town Party Committee and People's Committee regularly follow closely to grasp the difficulties of enterprises. Thereby contributing to removing obstacles and promoting investment in tourism services.

Back to the journey by speedboat from Lan Chau Island to Ngu Island. The sea surface is like a giant blue carpet, occasionally a small, beautiful fish appears. We feel like we are flying on the waves and experiencing strange, nostalgic emotions. From ancient times until now, Hon Ngu Island has also been called Song Ngu because the island looks like a pair of fish floating in the middle of the sea and sky. The charm that the journey brings also comes from the beautiful landscapes and landmarks on the small island. That is the jade well, Song Ngu Pagoda and a pair of 700-year-old Barringtonia trees. In addition, the island also owns a system of wild and interesting caves. All create a more wonderful destination in the Cua Lo tourist space. Before saying goodbye, Mr. Tran Quoc Lam revealed: “It is not by chance that my wife and I returned from Russia to invest in Cua Lo. We will have to invest nearly 2,000 billion VND in this project. There have been opinions that Nghe An people are not active in tourism investment activities. I will prove the opposite. I am from Nghe An”.

Dao Tuan - Duc Anh