A vibrant year of major sporting events held at Bau Trang (Hoa Thang - Bac Binh) in 2023 contributed to the opening of tourist tours along the Ho Chi Minh City - Mui Ne - Hoa Thang - Da Lat route. Everyone understands that tourists flock to the area following the events, especially those passionate about sports. But a trip to Bau Trang is not just about watching the events; it's also about immersing yourself in the stunning natural scenery, making you feel like you're in a scene from a spectacular American movie.
That's the feeling of My Trang from Ho Chi Minh City. According to Trang, upon first arriving at Hoa Thang, the landscape resembled a desert with vast stretches of white sand, sunshine, and wind whistling in her ears; there were two clear blue lakes, which the locals called "Bau Ong" and "Bau Ba," sparking curiosity; and the shifting sand dunes, which reminded Trang of scenes from American survival films, unconsciously drawing her in to explore and discover. Trang believes other tourists share similar feelings, which is one reason why Bau Trang is becoming increasingly popular. Furthermore, the roads connecting the tourist destinations are now very close, making travel and exploring the new route to Da Lat much easier, especially with the highway.
Not only do tourists travel to Mui Ne via the Dau Giay-Phan Thiet expressway, then visit Bau Trang and explore before heading to Da Lat on National Highway 28B, but they also discovered very early on, with the completion of two expressways, that the road to Da Lat is very close via National Highway 28B. This factor contributed to a surge in tourist numbers in Binh Thuan in 2023. Bac Binh alone attracted over 318,942 visitors, an increase of approximately 81% compared to the same period in 2022. Of these, domestic tourists accounted for 90%, and international tourists 10%.
According to the 2023 report of the People's Committee of Bac Binh District, the district coordinated with various units to organize numerous cultural and sports events as part of the cultural, sports, and tourism activities throughout the 2023 National Tourism Year with the theme "Binh Thuan - Green Convergence." Simultaneously, the district strengthened supervision and inspection of business establishments, promoting its image to attract tourists and investors. Local tourism models continued to expand, developing many new and attractive tourism packages. As a result, commercial and service activities in the district basically met the production, consumption, and entertainment needs of the people and tourists.
Leveraging distinctive cultural features
It can be said that in 2023, Bau Trang served as a gateway for tourists to enter Bac Binh district, a region rich in cultural values related to the Cham community of Binh Thuan. Even more significantly, these are national-level historical sites, making their inherent historical value immediately attractive to visitors. Bac Binh district boasts five such national-level cultural and artistic heritage sites.
This also reflects the direction of tourism development linked to preserving, conserving, restoring, and promoting the value of cultural and historical relics, heritage sites, and scenic spots in Bac Binh, in implementing Resolution No. 06-NQ/TU dated October 24, 2021, of the Executive Committee of the Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee (14th term) on tourism development until 2025, with orientation to 2030.
At the conference summarizing the first two years of implementing Resolution 06, Bac Binh reported that over the past two years, the district has focused on developing tourism while preserving, conserving, and promoting cultural values. In 2022, Bac Binh collaborated with the Vietnam Television Center – Southern Region (VTV9) to produce five documentaries titled “The Land of White Sand and Palm Trees” and one report titled “New Life in the Le Hong Phong War Zone,” focusing on portraying the beauty of the natural landscape and the culture and history of Binh Thuan province, especially Bac Binh district – a heroic land rich in revolutionary traditions, contributing to the promotion of local tourism and culture. In addition, it collaborated with the Union of Science and Technology Associations to organize a seminar on “The Current Situation and Solutions for Preserving the Bau Trang Ecological Tourist Area.” Simultaneously, it implemented the Project on Preserving and Promoting the Katê Festival of the Cham people in Binh Thuan province to serve tourism development, as directed by the Provincial People's Committee.
Besides the achievements, the district also acknowledges that tourism development still has certain limitations. Therefore, Bac Binh continues to implement 12 solutions to create a comprehensive impact across various fields such as state management of tourism, especially planning management; focusing all resources on developing tourism as a comprehensive economic sector; and strengthening information and communication work… In particular, it focuses on improving the quality of human resources in state management, business administration, and tourism-related labor. Simultaneously, the district emphasizes developing and improving the quality of existing products; introducing new products, focusing on products with local characteristics such as pottery, brocade, rice paper, and dragon fruit. It also integrates cultural festivals of the Cham people (Katê, Ramưwan), the New Year of the Rice Harvest festival; and promotes the cultural values at 5 national-level cultural and artistic relics. Traditional craft villages are linked to visits to historical and cultural relics, as well as revolutionary historical sites. In addition, investment is focused on developing the Bau Trang tourist area, upgrading it to become a highlight within the entire tourist zone, effectively utilizing the Bau Trang sand dunes, and combining it with the Le Hong Phong forest area (a resistance base) to develop various types of resort and eco-tourism linked to culture and history. All of this aims to make the Bac Binh area attractive to tourists.
Five national-level cultural and artistic relics in Bac Binh include: Xuan An Temple, Xuan Hoi Temple (Cho Lau), Dong An Temple (Phan Ri Thanh), Po Nit Temple (Phan Hiep), and Po Klong Mo Nai Temple - Kho Mo, a Cham royal family site (Luong Son, Phan Thanh), and one scenic site, Bau Trang (Hoa Thang). In 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a decision classifying them as national relics. Recently, the Cham pottery art was inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguard.
BICH NGHI - PHOTO BY N. LAN
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