100 Years of Tourism in Sam Son

 

Before the 20^th century, Sam Son was not on the Vietnamese geographical map. It only had Gam Mountain in the south, which was commonly called Gam Cape. Then, the name was gradually changed to Sam Mountain, or Sam Son in Vietnamese. The less common name for Sam Mountain was Truong Le Mountain. Early on, the French discovered Sam Son was an ideal place for recreation.

 

The very active centennial celebration of Sam Son seaside resort will be held in late April.

Sam Son has a 9 km coastline, with 5 km of beach suitable for swimming. According to the French, this beach was very beautiful because it has a flat seabed, fine sand and clean water rich in minerals, iodide and calcium. In addition, the 3-km Truong Le Mountain reached into the sea with 16 mounts to form marvellous scenery. Therefore, in 1906, the then Governor General of Indochina signed a decree to build a 16-km Provincial Road 8 (now National Road 47) from Thanh Hoa Town (now Thanh Hoa City) to Sam Son. In 1907, the French and the Nguyen Dynasty built many villas on Truong Le Mountain to enjoy their pastime relaxation. Bao Dai King, the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty, also had his own villa in Sam Son.

 

Together with Da Lat, Sa Pa and Do Son, Sam Son became a favourite resort in the early 20^th century. In July 1960, late President Ho Chi Minh also spent some time in Co Tien Temple.

 

Possibly, no other place has more legends than Sam Son. Covering only 18 square kilometres, Sam Son has 16 ranked historical relics and beauty spots. This land is famous with Truong Le, Hon Keo, Hon Nganh, Phu Thai, Co Giai and Trong Mai scenic spots, and Nui, Van, Trieu and Ben villages. This land is also home to immortal heroes like Doc Cuoc, To Hien Thanh, Hoang Minh Tu, De Linh and Ba Trieu.

 

Sam Son has gradually become a civilised, rich, beautiful and relaxing tourism area. Annually, thousands of domestic and international visitors drop on in Sam Son, which has become the pride of the Thanh Hoa tourism sector as well as the Vietnamese tourism industry.

 

At present, Sam Son has a completely new face, with upgraded infrastructure, improved tourism environment, modern lifestyle and premium tourism service.

 

Since 1996, with support from the government and the province, and contributions from local people, Sam Son has invested large sums of capital into develop infrastructure systems like hotels, transport, electricity and water systems and entertainment centres. Most hotels are modern and reach international standards. Especially, Sam Son Town is nearing completion of the construction of “Doc Cuoc Mythology” tourist and entertainment site and sports centres. It also has outlined construction plans for Quang Cu ecotourism site and Truong Le cultural tourism site. Hence, the number of arrivals to Sam Son is continuously rising. The number of arrivals to Sam Son was 500 a day in 1996, and it jumped to 800 by 2002, and 2,700 in 2006.

 

These figures show the Sam Son tourism industry is playing an increasing role in the economic structure of Sam Son Town. This industry created jobs for thousands of people, changed ways of thinking of the people in a market-driven economy, and helped increase the awareness level of the people. In addition to support from the government, tourism industry income is spent building public utilities like medical centres, schools, roads, electricity lines, restoring historical relics and beauty spots.

 

The 100-year Sam Son celebration will last four days, from April 28 to May 1, 2007, with four themes of “Sam Son Reminisce,” “Sam Son Legend Discovery,” “Journey to Capital Cities” and “To Legendary Places.” During this event, visitors can visit different legendary places, as well as take part in festivals, exchanges and water sports.

To make the centennial ceremony a national cultural and tourism event, the Government and people of Sam Son Town are carrying out various activities to raise people’s awareness and complete regulations on tourism service activities and the surrounding environment.
 
With the slogans “Sam Son tourism: Health - Economy - Friendship,” and “Sam Son: Discipline - Civilisation - Efficiency,” Thanh Hoa Province authorities believe the 100-year Sam Son Tourism celebration will be a legendary coastal festival, which will arouse the pride and responsibility of the people for the country, and create a drive for the people to build Sam Son Town into a coastal developed tourism town. At the same time, this is also a chance for Thanh Hoa Province to promote tourism and investment attraction activities and build Sam Son into a national key tourism site.