'Awakening' tourism potential from historical relics in Ninh Binh

The ancient capital land - Ninh Binh inherits the historical and cultural heritage of the ancient capital region with more than a thousand years of history.

Photo caption — Traditional rituals in Hoa Lu Festival attract a large number of people and tourists to visit and worship. Photo: Hai Yen/VNA

Faced with its inherent potential, Ninh Binh province has implemented many solutions to promote the restoration, embellishment and promotion of the value of historical and cultural relics to exploit the potential and advantages of tourism development. The ancient land with many historical and cultural relics, the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital Historical and Cultural Relic Site has more than 30 relics, of which the temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang and the temple of King Le Dai Hanh are two particularly important relics with unique ancient architectures that have reached a level of sophistication and sophistication in the art of wood and stone carving in the 17th century. Through many ups and downs of history, the Hoa Lu Capital has become a unique cultural region. The vestiges and relics in Hoa Lu have played and are playing an important role in preserving and transmitting cultural values from ancient times. According to research documents, the ancient Hoa Lu Capital covers an area of about 300 hectares, including the Outer Citadel and the Inner Citadel, surrounded by a series of rocky mountains and majestic landscapes. Currently, the historical and cultural vestiges still remaining in the relic area are very rich and diverse, including a system of worshiping architecture, walls, caves... such as the temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang, the temple of King Le Dai Hanh, Am Tien pagoda and cave, Nhat Tru pagoda, Yen Trach communal house, Ngan pagoda, King Le's tomb, Muoi cave, Quan cave... Among them, 14 relics have been ranked at the national level, 8 relics have been ranked at the provincial level. In particular, the temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang and the temple of King Le Dai Hanh were initially built right on the foundation of the ancient palace for people to worship and commemorate the merits of the previous emperors. By the 17th century, the temple was renovated and rebuilt with unique architecture, wood and stone sculptures reaching a level of sophistication and sophistication. In addition to the above relics, the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital area currently preserves thousands of relics and antiques of historical, cultural and scientific value. With its cultural values, historical relics and artistic architecture, Hoa Lu Ancient Capital is one of the three core areas of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, officially recognized by UNESCO as the first and only dual heritage (cultural and natural) in Southeast Asia in 2014. Ms. Le Thi Bich Thuc, Deputy Director of the Center for Conservation of Historical and Cultural Relics of Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, said that with its historical and cultural potential, the Center has proactively and actively promoted propaganda and promotion activities, while creating favorable conditions for schools and travel agencies to bring visitors to visit and experience such as: reducing entrance fees and free tour guide services to help students and visitors understand more about the history of Ninh Binh province in particular and the history of Vietnam in general. The Center applies science and technology in projection to bring artifacts and archaeological excavation results closer to visitors. From there, visitors will have experiences with unique tourism products. To increase the attractiveness of tourists to visit tourist areas and spots, Hoa Lu district organizes training, fostering, opening Cheo singing and Van singing classes, establishing cultural and artistic clubs to serve at tourist areas and spots, and during festivals. This is considered one of the important activities that is maintained regularly to add "spice" to increase the attractiveness of Hoa Lu's traditional tourism products. In 2022, Hoa Lu district welcomed over 2.4 million visitors, with estimated revenue of 1,260 billion VND. Signs of recovery and growth in visitors are creating momentum for a stronger breakthrough in the coming year. In 2023, the district strives to welcome 3.9 million visitors. Promoting the value of historical and cultural relics to develop tourism As a locality with a dense historical and cultural value, including a system of relics, Ninh Binh currently has 1,821 inventoried relics, of which 395 relics have been ranked, including one world cultural and natural heritage, 81 national relics (including three special national relics), and 314 provincial relics. According to the Department of Culture and Sports of Ninh Binh province, the province has many policies and strategies to promote sustainable tourism development, with goals and orientations for preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage associated with tourism development. Resolution No. 07-NQ/TU dated October 29, 2021 of the Ninh Binh Provincial Party Committee on tourism development for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2045, identifies the policy of developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector as the strategic orientation of the province, focusing on preserving and promoting the historical and cultural values and fine traditions of the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, creating unique, attractive, high-quality tourism products, bearing the Ninh Binh tourism brand, imbued with the cultural identity of the land and people of the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, making Ninh Binh an attractive and classy destination, worthy of being a tourist center of the country and the region.

Every year, the Department of Culture and Sports has advised the Provincial People's Committee to support funds for the restoration and prevention of degradation of relics from the state budget. During the period from 2017 to 2022, from the provincial budget, 130 relics were restored and prevented from degradation with a total cost of more than 30 billion VND. In addition, from 2018 to 2022, from public investment capital, 50 relics were supported to restore, embellish and prevent degradation with a total cost of more than 189 billion VND. Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ninh Binh province, affirmed that the system of tangible and intangible cultural heritages in the province is currently a valuable resource that contributes to creating the attraction, image and value of local tourism. That will be the premise for Ninh Binh tourism to make a breakthrough in the coming time, bringing unique tourism products to attract the attention of domestic and foreign tourists. The province has had many policies and strategies to harmoniously resolve the conflict between conservation and development, in which public awareness work is emphasized. In planning and implementing projects to preserve and promote the value of relics associated with tourism development in the province, the participation of the community, the interests of local people and the cost of protecting and restoring relics from tourism revenue have been taken into account.

In the coming time, the provincial Department of Culture will coordinate with relevant levels and sectors to continue exploiting the unique elements of local cultural heritage to develop unique and highly competitive tourism products. In addition, it will focus on investing in developing, positioning and widely promoting the Ninh Binh tourism brand based on outstanding heritage values, authentic values of traditional culture and local lifestyle; at the same time, promoting heritage values to enhance the added value of Ninh Binh tourism products. The sector will promote the conservation and restoration of relics in accordance with current laws, which will be a prerequisite for in-depth and sustainable tourism development. An indispensable factor is the development of community-based tourism, the conservation of cultural heritage based on local communities; and responsible tourism development towards harmonious sharing of benefits, ensuring benefits for the community and tourists.