Con Co Island, Quang Tri will welcome 10,000 visitors in 2023

In 2023, Con Co island district (Quang Tri province) aims to attract about 10,000 tourists, with revenue from tourism and services reaching about 13.5 billion VND.

According to statistics from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Tri , from the beginning of the year to July 30, there were more than 7,200 visitors to Con Co Island.

According to statistics from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Tri, from the beginning of the year to July 30, there have been more than 7,200 visitors to the island, and revenue from services and tourism has also increased. Currently, there are 2 ships serving tourists to the island every day, which are the "Con Co Tourist" ship and the "Chin Nghia Quang Tri" ship.

Director of the Provincial Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Nguyen Duc Tan said that Con Co is an island district about 18 nautical miles from the mainland, with an area of ​​2.3 square kilometers and a population of about 400 people. Although the area is not large, Con Co has an important strategic position, guarding the southern gateway of the Gulf of Tonkin.

Con Co has favorable natural conditions for tourism development, the island is pristine, not much affected by humans. The landscape of the island is like a natural museum. The island is covered with forests with beautiful roads for visitors to walk or cycle to see the primeval forest with green flowers and leaves all year round. Surrounding the island is the Con Co Island Marine Reserve.

Each boat trip from the mainland to the island usually starts at Cua Viet port at around 7 to 8 am on weekdays. The trip to the island takes from 45 minutes to 1 hour, visitors stay on Con Co island for one night and then return to the mainland the next day.

This is one of the marine ecosystems with high biodiversity in Vietnam, with typical ecosystems of tropical seas such as coral reefs, seaweed and fish species. The marine ecosystem of the island is among the richest and most beautiful in Vietnam. The results of the investigation by scientists show that Con Co has up to 109 species of coral, many of which are rare, especially red coral and black coral, in addition to more than 50 species of seaweed of high value.

Visitors to Con Co can experience going from the forest to the sea, immersing themselves in the clear water with colorful coral reefs. More attractively, Con Co is located in the famous tourist triangle system Con Co-Cua Viet-Cua Tung, so when coming to Quang Tri, visitors will have the opportunity to explore not only Con Co but also coastal locations with beautiful landscapes as well as special national historical relics.

Tourists experience coral diving at Con Co Island

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, a tourist from Hanoi visiting the island, said: “If you come to Con Co to enjoy cultural and historical tourism, you still do not fully understand this unique outpost island. The cuisine in Con Co also has its own unique features. The sea snails here have crispy meat, a strong flavor and a distinctive aroma. Other delicious dishes are oysters, sea grapes and pork raised on the island. When visiting a tourist destination, you only need to like and remember one delicious dish to be successful, but Con Co has made me remember and like many things. Visitors to Con Co Island will be most suitable for a 2-day, 1-night tour.”

According to the Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Con Co island district, Vo Viet Cuong, with those potentials and advantages, right from the establishment of the district according to Decree 174/2004/ND-CP dated October 1, 2004 and officially put into operation from April 18, 2005, the Government has had a specific policy for Con Co island district, which is to develop the economy in combination with strengthening and ensuring national defense and security, in which priority is given to building Con Co into a sea tourism island.

Based on the master plan for socio-economic development in the 2020-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, Con Co island district continues to call for and attract investment in the construction of approved projects to serve socio-economic development, focusing on tourism infrastructure.

National flagpole on Con Co island

Mr. Vo Viet Cuong admitted that in order to better serve tourists, Con Co needs to form unique and specialized tourism products that do not overlap with other places such as: diving tourism, fishing tourism, experiential tourism associated with building the Con Co brand.

Strengthen coordination between localities in the province, especially between tourist destinations, to create attractive tour chains combining mainland tourism with Con Co Island to improve the efficiency of exploiting tours and tourist routes.

In search of suitable development for Con Co Island, tourism economic researchers believe that, in addition to maintaining mass and affordable tourism products, Quang Tri province needs to build a high-end resort tourism brand, build hotels with high-quality services to welcome small but high-spending visitors. From there, it is possible to build different tourism products that are competitive with major domestic tourist centers.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Tan, to promote the cultural traditions and history of the heroic island in the resistance war against the US, to save the country, the unique cuisine and the rare marine reserve, as part of the tourism development stimulus program, the Provincial People's Committee is calling on investors to build standard accommodation facilities in Con Co island district to promote Con Co tourism to develop worthy of its potential and available advantages.

Tung Anh