What are the driving forces behind Tay Ninh's economic breakthrough?

With impressive growth momentum, Tay Ninh, the "roof of Southeast Vietnam," aims to become the international trade gateway for the entire Southern Key Economic Region by 2050, with tourism as a key economic sector. The "rise" of Tay Ninh shows that all localities have the potential for economic breakthroughs.

Mount Ba Den is a major tourist attraction in Tay Ninh.

Tourism brightens the economic picture.

In the overall picture of Tay Ninh's economic growth, tourism is considered a key bright spot. In 2022, the province's tourism industry aimed to attract approximately 3.1 million visitors, but the total for the 12 months reached an outstanding 4.5 million, a 200% increase compared to the previous year, bringing in 1,400 billion VND for the provincial budget, a 130% increase. This result makes Tay Ninh one of the southern provinces with the strongest tourism growth rate after the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first six months of this year, while the industrial and construction sectors experienced slower growth, the service and trade sectors continued to record very good growth, contributing 32.07% to the province's GRDP. Notably, revenue from tourism activities reached nearly 1,450 billion VND, a 71% increase compared to the same period last year.

According to the People's Committee of Tay Ninh province, the tourism industry has made significant contributions to the province's socio-economic development in recent years. The development of tourism has promoted a positive shift in the economic structure, increased budget revenue, created jobs, improved the rural landscape, and contributed to urban development. In particular, the successful attraction of strategic investors such as Sun Group and Vingroup to build high-class, innovative artificial tourism products has led to a major improvement in both the quantity and quality of products and services. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number and quality of visitors to tourist areas and destinations. Tay Ninh possesses the full potential to develop almost all types of traditional tourism, including cultural, ecological, resort, spiritual, and scientific research tourism.

Tourism in Tay Ninh is developing strongly.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tay Ninh province, said that the Provincial People's Committee has developed a tourism development plan until 2025 and a vision until 2030, which emphasizes the need to effectively exploit existing potential and advantages, focusing on developing tourism products, building a unique tourism brand, and making the Ba Den Mountain National Tourist Area a world-class tourist destination in the region and the country.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc emphasized that the province has determined that it is time to move beyond the normal pace and instead embrace a breakthrough mindset, leveraging local advantages to drive growth and development for the province and the entire region. Industry and tourism services are identified as the main drivers of growth, linked to the development of new spatial areas, aiming to make Tay Ninh one of the leading centers for industrial and tourism service development in the region and the country.

"By 2030, Tay Ninh must become a prosperous, beautiful, and civilized province with one of the best living environments in the region. Enhancing the value chain, increasing the proportion of tourism in the GRDP, and creating momentum to promote the province's socio-economic development are key tasks to strive for by 2030, making tourism a leading economic sector of the locality. By 2050, Tay Ninh will become a province with a developed economy based on clean industry and high-tech agriculture, with developed trade and tourism, and serving as an international trade gateway for the Southern Key Economic Region," the Tay Ninh provincial leaders set the goal.

The appeal comes from travel "blockbusters".

In fact, since reopening after Covid-19, Tay Ninh has emerged as one of the hottest destinations, consistently recording record numbers of visitors during peak holiday seasons. In 2022, Tay Ninh welcomed 5 million tourists, making it one of the top tourist destinations in the country. The travel website Vietnam Nomad even named Tay Ninh among the "10 hidden gems" of Vietnamese tourism, a must-visit destination in 2023.

After traveling approximately 1,800 km on a nearly 6-hour journey from Van Don to Ho Chi Minh City and then by car to Tay Ninh, Ms. Pham Anh Hoa's family (Quang Ninh) couldn't hide their emotion upon arriving at Ba Den Mountain during the celebration of the birth anniversary of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Ms. Hoa said: "Earlier this year, I missed the opportunity to visit the temple, so I decided to arrange my work schedule to come to Ba Den Mountain during the celebration of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara's birth anniversary. I was truly surprised to witness the solemn ceremony at Ba Den Temple and join the crowds to listen to Dharma talks and release lanterns on the mountaintop under the magical lights at night. It felt like I had wandered into a Buddhist land, incredibly peaceful and serene."

Mount Ba Den is not the most famous destination in Tay Ninh province; for decades, this mountain, considered the most sacred in Southern Vietnam, has consistently topped the list of must-visit places for spiritual tourism enthusiasts. However, back then, visiting this place was not easy. To worship or conquer the summit, visitors had to walk along trails or climb over 1,000 steps from the foot of the mountain, taking 2-4 hours to reach the top. Furthermore, besides worshipping at Mount Ba Den, there were almost no other attractive activities to keep visitors engaged, so anyone going had to carefully plan their itinerary to ensure a day trip.

In 1998, a cable car was built to make it easier for tourists to reach Ba Den Pagoda, but it still couldn't meet the demand. The more than 600-meter climb up the treacherous mountain path to the "roof of Southern Vietnam" from Ba Den Pagoda remained a significant challenge. In January 2020, the modern cable car – the first component of the Sun World Ba Den Mountain tourist complex invested by Sun Group on the summit of Ba Den Mountain – began operation, transforming the tourism experience in Tay Ninh; shortening the travel time to the "roof of Southern Vietnam" and Ba Den Pagoda to just minutes instead of days. Despite the disadvantage of being established during a pandemic, the tourist complex inadvertently became a powerful asset for Tay Ninh upon its reopening after the pandemic.

A comprehensively developed complex offering unique spiritual experiences, a large-scale spiritual structure on the mountaintop featuring modern technology, and a lighting system of 3,500 LED lights across the peak… has immediately revitalized tourism in Tay Ninh after the long nights of Covid-19. In January 2023 alone, Mount Ba Den welcomed nearly 2 million visitors. Notably, Mount Ba Den is also one of the rare places in Vietnam that preserves relics of the Buddha Shakyamuni, becoming a leading spiritual destination in Southern Vietnam. It is predicted that by 2025, this tourist area will attract approximately 5 million visitors and reach 8 million by 2035.

Dr. Luong Hoai Nam, a member of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), called this clear evidence of the power of tourism "blockbusters" from the experiential park sector, which the tourism industry has witnessed breakthrough development in recent times. The Sun World Ba Den Mountain complex has brought about a "transformation" for the tourism industry in Tay Ninh province, similar to how Ba Na Hills positioned Da Nang as a high-class tourist destination or how Sun World Fansipan Legend helped revolutionize tourism in Sa Pa (Lao Cai)...

Large-scale, high-class projects like Sun World Ba Den Mountain, with their well-planned investments, will be a major draw, attracting not only domestic tourists but also contributing to the effective exploitation of the international market. Diverse products will also encourage visitors to stay longer, spend more, and the tourism industry to more effectively capitalize on this market.

Dr. Luong Hoai Nam , member of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Council

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