Awakening Kon Ka Kinh, bringing tourists to the 'golden mountain'

Kon Ka Kinh - Ảnh 1. — Kon Ka Kinh is a national park with a very high level of biodiversity in the Central Truong Son forest ecosystem - Photo: TAN LUC

At a meeting with Kon Ka Kinh National Park on August 9th, the Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee, Pham Anh Tuan, outlined the strategic direction for attracting investment and developing this rich biosphere reserve.

Kon Ka Kinh National Park is a golden mountain for tourism.

According to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, tourism is one of the five pillars of development for the newly established Gia Lai province. Among them, Kon Ka Kinh National Park is a crucial asset with exceptional value for tourism and conservation. It is one of the richest forest areas in Vietnam and ASEAN, boasting excellent weather conditions and a globally recognized biodiversity brand.

Kon Ka Kinh - Ảnh 2. — Mr. Pham Anh Tuan (center) and the Gia Lai provincial delegation walk to survey tourist spots in Kon Ka Kinh National Park - Photo: TAN LUC

Taking advantage of this, Mr. Tuan requested that the relevant authorities and the park management board make the most of it to develop tourism, bringing domestic and international tourists to admire Kon Ka Kinh.

The province will allocate resources to invest in infrastructure and access roads to the national park. International journalists will be invited to visit to spread the image of Kon Ka Kinh to the outside world.

Mr. Tuan likened the national park management board to sitting on a pile of gold, needing to focus on exploiting it to generate revenue and contribute to socio-economic development.

At the same time, it creates sustainable livelihoods for local people and encourages them to contribute to forest conservation.

A region with high biodiversity and a wonderful climate.

Sharing information about the biodiversity of Kon Ka Kinh National Park, Mr. Ngo Van Thang, the park director, said that the park covers an area of nearly 42,000 hectares, including 39,500 hectares of forest, mostly natural forest.

The park is home to 1,754 plant species and 876 animal species. Among them are 16 endemic animal species, including: the Central Vietnamese red-cheeked gibbon, the gray-footed langur, the tiger, the Trường Sơn muntjac, the large muntjac, the black-headed thrush, the long-billed thrush, the Kon Ka Kinh thrush, the gray-headed thrush, the yellow-billed tree climber, the striped pheasant, the red-rumped monk lizard, the net-trapping lizard, the red-tailed lizard, the giant cycad, and the spiny frog.

Kon Ka Kinh - Ảnh 3. — Tourists take photos with ancient banyan trees in Kon Ka Kinh forest - Photo: TAN LUC

Due to the pilot phase of tourism development, the number of visitors to the park in the first seven months of 2025 was quite modest, with only 342 visitors. The unit has sent staff for tourism training and developed a plan for the development of ecotourism, resort, and recreational activities within the national park.

Kon Ka Kinh is known to be one of 27 national parks in Southeast Asia recognized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an ASEAN Heritage Park.

Kon Ka Kinh is considered to have great potential for tourism development with its high altitude climate zone of 700-1,500m, allowing for the design of various types of tourism. The area has advantages for developing ecotourism, resort tourism, adventure sports, health and wellness tourism, agricultural tourism, and specialized research.