One of the important advantages in the Central Region is its great potential for tourism services. The Central Region (from Quang Binh to Khanh Hoa and Highland provinces) is famous for the “Heritage Route” with 6 out of 7 world heritage sites in Vietnam including Phong Nha-Ke Bang, Hue Ancient Capital, Royal music and songs, Hoi An Ancient Town, My Son Holy Land and Cong & Chieng of the Central Highlands.
Along with these world heritage sites, the Central Region is endowed with other relics, beauty spots and famous ecological tourism zones. The trend of economic globalisation requires strong union between the localities and tourism diversification for creating package products and facilities provided to clients. On the other hand, for diversifying products and generating flexible and creative mechanisms in business, the socialisation of tourism services is a correct and suitable selection matching the current economic status of the Central Region.
After nearly twenty years of innovation, the tourism sector in the Central Region has made great progress giving significant contribution to the structure and the growth rate of local GDP. The typical examples are Thua Thien, Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Khanh Hoa provinces. However, in general, the tourism in the Central Region has two limitations to overcome.
Firstly, the localities provide tourism products by exploiting natural advantages. They have not paid attention to creating new and cultural tourism products. As a result, the tourism products and satellite services are not diversified or attractive.
Secondly, there is no general planning on exploiting regional advantages for providing a series of tourism products and services typical for the whole region. The tourism products and services are enclosed in the administrative territory of each province or city.
The great potentials of the land and people of the Central Region allow us to think of developing a “Tourism Paradise in the Central Region of Vietnam” like Phukhet in Thailand or Bali in Indonesia. To do so, the Government should work out a project of focused investment to formulate an inter-provincial tourism complex from Nghe An to Khanh Hoa incorporating the following solutions.
Firstly, investment should be put into developing infrastructure and services to combine the 6 world heritage sites and other relics, beauty spots and ecological tourism zones, even in developing sightseeing and tourism spots providing high quality and professional services;
Secondly, an inter-central region tourism route should be designed with many new sightseeing services such as speed boating, travelling by helicopter, by balloon, by river and by car along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, by pedicabs and bicycles as well as coastal sightseeing suitable to the natural conditions and typical characteristics of each tour.
Thirdly, the tourism products should be creatively exploited in the direction of exchanging the diversities of native cultures from physical (temples, pagodas, joss-houses, ancient towns, mausoleums and caves) to non-physical cultures (traditional craft villages, festival cultures, culinary cultures, traditional music, games and arts). As the result, each tourism spot will have new typical tourism product which can extend the stay of tourists and stimulate guest expenditure to increase the income of local trade and services. The localities should concentrate their investment on hotels and guest-houses, beauty spots, entertainment of high quality and professional services. Festival tourism, traditional village tourism (like Phuoc Kieu bronze casting, stone-products in Non Nuoc, carpentry in Kim Bong, pottery in Thanh Ha, conical hats in Hue City, lanterns in Hoi An, brocade and silk village in Duy Xuyen), garden tourism (Tra Que vegetable village), fishing village tourism, countryside tourism, sea and island tourism, enjoying the Royal music and songs, Hue folk songs, visiting highland villages and the homestay tourism have unique cultural characteristics, which can attract visitors.
Fourthly, the division of administrative territories should be eradicated for creating package tourism services as well as regional satellite services (like passenger transportation services, hotels and sightseeing); creating a link between tourism services and other service sectors like trade and services (souvenirs and garment service), financial services (foreign exchange, ATM services) and telecommunications services.
Fifthly, the central localities should attach importance to cooperation in popularising the trade mark and the image of Vietnamese tourism as well as the Central Heritage Route to domestic and foreign visitors through diversified forms. Apart from that, the localities should strengthen the provision of tourism information through fast information channels like websites and email.
Sixth, it should sum up and replicate the Hoi An tourism model, which has been successful in many activities linking tourism with local culture. A cultural manner in communication with tourists should be developed taking native cultural characteristics as the impetus for tourism development and the tourism resources as the investment for rehabilitating their traditional cultures.
Seventh, the Government should consider the preferential mechanism for driving economic zones. In the business process, it is necessary to raise the tourism investment support fund of the Central Region contributed by the regional tourist enterprises. This fund will be managed by the Tourism and Services Association of the Central Region to regulate the financial resources for difficult localities.
Eighth, the socialisation of the tourism business should be boosted bringing into full play the resources of private economy with open conditions at all tourism service branches in accordance with the Enterprise Law, the Law on Investment and other relevant normative acts. The localities should provide incentives in taxes and credit for stimulating the private economic sector to create new service products as well as diversifying services.
Quoc Tuan
Vietnamese
