Quang Ninh Province Seeks to Enlarge Halong Bay

Quang Ninh Province Seeks to Enlarge Halong Bay

Northern Quang Ninh province is about to seek approval of the Vietnamese government for a new detailed scheme to enlarge the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay area by three times, according to a provincial official.

Director of the local Tourism Service Nguyen Van Tuan revealed that the submission would be sent to the government late this year.

“We want to scale up the bay’s area to around 1,200 sq.m from 434 sq.m now and the enlarged bay will encompass most of Bai Tu Long bay,” he said.

Halong Bay currently has around 788 islands and islets.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has twice recognized the bay as a World Heritage Site; one for its magnificent natural landscape in 1994 and the other for its geological and topographical value in 1998.

Since the recognition, Halong Bay has become one of the most favored travel destinations in Vietnam.

Once the government approves the project, provincial authorities will propose UNESCO recognize the bay for the third time, Tuan said.

In the first four months this year, Quang Ninh received over one million tourists, up 32% on-year.

 Last year, the province welcomed 2.67 million tourists more then half of which were foreigners.

Saigon Times Daily