Building the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs Cemetery into a spiritual tourist destination
(Baonghean.vn)- Afternoon of July 19,Department of Tourism works with Anh Son district leaders onOrganize a survey and evaluate the pilgrimage spiritual tourism route at the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs Cemetery.
Comrades Nguyen Manh Cuong - Director of the Department of Tourism; Dang Thanh Tung - Secretary of Anh Son District Party Committee; Nguyen Huu Sang - Chairman of the District People's Committee chaired the meeting.
Also attending were the North Central Representative Office of the Unesco Association in Hanoi, leaders of the Tourism Promotion Center, travel companies under the Nghe An Travel Association: Phuc Group Tourism Investment Company Limited; Nghe An Tourism Joint Stock Company, Thien Viet Star Travel Joint Stock Company, Net Viet Travel Company, VSC Travel and Service Company Limited, Phong Ha Service Company Limited.
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| The Vietnam-Laos International Cemetery covers an area of over 7 hectares. This is the resting place of 10,741 martyrs who are Vietnamese soldiers, experts and volunteer soldiers who fought on the Laos battlefield. Photo: Document |
Before the working session, the delegation offered incense and flowers to commemorate the heroic martyrs at the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs Cemetery.
At the meeting, the delegation listened to the leaders of Anh Son district report on the potential and tourism investment orientations of the district in the coming time.
Anh Son is a district with potential to develop spiritual tourism, eco-tourism such as Cua Luy temple, Dong Truong cave, Yen Xuan shop... At the same time, it has a convenient traffic location to connect with famous tourist destinations such as Pu Mat National Forest - Western Nghe An World Biosphere Reserve, Plain of Jars of Xieng Khouang - Laos.
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| The tourism sector delegation and leaders of Anh Son district offered incense and flowers at the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs Cemetery. Photo: Sy Minh |
To remember and pay tribute to the heroic martyrs of the Vietnamese volunteer army who fought side by side with the army and people to protect the two countries, our Party and State have built a special cemetery, named after both countries, to serve as a resting place for the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who fought and sacrificed in Laos.
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| Tourism delegation and leaders of Anh Son district surveyed the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs Cemetery. Photo: Sy Minh |
The Vietnam - Laos Martyrs' Cemetery was built in 1976, located next to National Highway 7, with an area of nearly 7 hectares. In 1982, with the sentiment of remembering the source of water, our Party and State decided to repatriate all the remains of martyrs who died on Laos' land to Vietnam, and gather them at the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs' Cemetery. Since its construction, the cemetery has received and cared for more than 11,000 remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died on the battlefield in Laos and brought them here to rest. If exploited, this will be one of the spiritual, pilgrimage, and memorial sites to remember the martyrs' merits.
At the meeting, the delegates all agreed that the highlight of spiritual tourism and origin tourism in Anh Son is the Vietnam - Laos cemetery. In the coming time, Anh Son needs to step up propaganda work so that people and tourists know that the Vietnam - Laos cemetery is a red address in educating the young generation about patriotic traditions, and at the same time, a place to return to the source, show gratitude, and report on achievements...
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| Overview of the working session between the Department of Tourism and the People's Committee of Anh Son district. Photo: Sy Minh |
After this working program, the North Central Representative Office of the Hanoi Unesco Association will send a report to the Hanoi Unesco Association and the Hanoi Unesco Travel Club detailing the Vietnam - Laos Cemetery and soon promote the survey of the Indochina War Remembrance route as well as start to integrate this meaningful location into the tourist route of Nghe An and the North Central region in the programs introduced to tourists.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Sang - Chairman of Anh Son District People's Committee: At the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs' Cemetery, in addition to martyrs whose hometown is Nghe An, there are also many martyrs from other regions such as Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Hai Duong, Bac Giang... However, since more than 40 years since its construction, the International Cemetery has basically only received a number of visits from relatives of martyrs' families, the government and people of the district during holidays, and mainly around July 27, the number of visitors from tours, pilgrimages, returning to the source, and reporting ceremonies is almost limited. Besides the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs' Cemetery, Anh Son has many other tourist attractions that need to be promoted and advertised in the coming time. The district is preparing to start construction of a number of restaurants and hotels in the area to serve tourists. Planning is underway to expand the Cua Luy spiritual area. Regarding products for tourists, Anh Son has Doc Dua sticky rice cake, nhut... Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong - Director of the Department of Tourism: Taking advantage of the promotion of the press, central and local media and the Department of Tourism, the Tourism Promotion Center put information about the Vietnam - Laos Cemetery in promotional publications, on the Department of Tourism's website; put this point in the mandatory itinerary of Famtrip, Fresstrip survey teams.... Innovating the cooperation mechanism and information exchange between the cemetery management board, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Anh Son district and businesses. Anh Son District and the Cemetery Management Board as well as the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs connect with other listed relic sites of the province such as: Truong Bon, Uncle Ho's Hometown, KM 0 relic site, Muong Thanh Cultural Ecological Area, Pu Mat National Park... can support the promotion of this destination directly to tourists. Pay attention to directing travel companies to connect and promote Anh Son tourism. Mr. Nguyen Huu Bac - Chief Representative of Unesco Hanoi Travel Club in the Central Region - Chairman of PhucGroup Tourism Investment Company - PGC: Tourism is a special, interdisciplinary and inter-regional industry, so considering that the Vietnam - Laos International Cemetery has comparative advantages that can create a spiritual tourism highlight of Western Nghe An. However, the following linkage factors must be met: Connecting in the product chain of Southwest Nghe An, together with Pu Mat National Park. On the way from Vinh to Con Cuong, visitors can hold a ceremony and visit martyrs before going to explore the natural values and ethnic culture in Con Cuong, because it is located on National Highway 7 and is 30 minutes away by car. With the 2-day-1-night Vinh - Pu Mat - Vinh tours, this destination cannot be missed. |
Thanh Thuy - Sy Minh
