The tour to experience Ngoc Island (Son Cha Island) was once very popular with tourists. Photo: LCBX

Businesses are willing, but services are lacking

Often coming to Phu Loc and chatting with many tourists, a common sharing, also a question of many people is why Phu Loc has a lot of potential, especially sea and island tourism, but the service is still poor. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Luong, a tourist from Gia Lai shared: “I live in the mountains so I really like the sea and go to many beaches. The sea and islands in Phu Loc, especially Lang Co, are very beautiful, but in reality, I cannot find any tours or services to stay and experience. Coming here just to swim in the sea and enjoy seafood, I still feel regretful”.

Tourists who have experienced the Pearl Island tour have a different opinion. Ms. Hoai An, who participated in this experience, shared: “Phu Loc should have had a very interesting island tour. Unfortunately, the tour that impressed me the most about island tourism here has stopped operating.”

Previously, Lang Co Bien Xanh Tourism Company (LCBX) represented by Mr. Tran Quoc Hung, which came into operation in 2015, brought new experiences to island tourism here. At the time of operation, the company's Pearl Island experience tour included activities such as diving, coral viewing, fishing, and preparing and enjoying seafood caught by the experiencers themselves. The evenings spent on Bai Chuoi, waking up early to watch the sunrise attracted the attention of a large number of tourists. Unfortunately, in July 2022, the company was suspended due to not meeting the conditions and requirements.

Mr. Nguyen Hai Dang, Vice Chairman of Phu Loc District People's Committee, said that the local government is very concerned about the enthusiasm of businesses in particular and the desire to develop tourism services and tours in general. In fact, the local government and departments always support and are ready to create favorable conditions for businesses, however, operations must comply with the provisions of the law.

The leader of Phu Loc District People's Committee also shared that after the canoe sinking incident in Cua Dai sea area ( Quang Nam ) that killed 17 people in February 2022, the Prime Minister issued a directive, requiring local Departments of Transport to conduct a comprehensive inspection of compliance with business regulations and conditions for inland waterway transport business, and strictly handle violations according to the law. Accordingly, during the review process, the enterprise did not meet the conditions, so it was forced to suspend operations.

The above mentioned lacking condition is that there must be a tourist boat dock and the authorities must allocate channels, channels, and routes for boats to go to the island. This is a difficult condition, especially since investing in a boat dock requires a large amount of money. On the other hand, according to the local government, this place is stuck in the general planning of Chan May - Lang Co economic zone, so the difficulty becomes even more difficult.

Quickly remove difficulties to develop tourism

Meeting Mr. Tran Quoc Hung again on a day in July 2024, the "professional blood" of this businessman was still boiling. He said: "If I am allowed to work, if the locality or the departments guide me to find a way to coordinate to solve the problem, I will be ready to continue working, borrowing money to invest."

Sharing Mr. Hung's enthusiasm with many departments and agencies, the units all affirmed their desire to create favorable conditions for businesses, especially businesses in the province. Mr. Le Van Tue, Head of the Provincial Economic - Industrial Zone Management Board, shared that regarding the planning of the marina, the unit has coordinated with related units to carry out the supplementary planning and the Ministry of Transport has agreed in principle, submitting it to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval. The biggest concern is the large investment cost, it is not easy to build a marina.

Mr. Nguyen Hai Dang shared: “The leaders of the district People's Committee, including myself, have had 3 working sessions with relevant departments and branches. The general view is to support businesses, because Phu Loc needs services and tours to develop tourism. The difficulty is that the procedures are quite cumbersome, because it involves many units, departments and branches. Regarding the authority of the district, we are ready to create the best conditions, in accordance with the provisions of the law”. Regarding the tourism industry, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism said: If businesses are allowed to operate services, the department is ready to support connecting tours, introducing them to relevant units and supporting tourism promotion.

Currently, local authorities, relevant departments and sectors are also reviewing and ensuring conditions to guide businesses to invest in services. Certainly, investing in services to exploit and develop tourism here requires a large amount of money, a lot of effort, and many difficulties, but with what local authorities, departments, sectors and businesses have said, it is necessary to join hands and coordinate closely to soon overcome difficulties and develop tourism.

Control of bringing tourists to the island

Regarding the information that some travel agencies are advertising tours to Ngoc Island - Son Cha departing from Da Nang, Lieutenant Colonel Le Ngoc Nhan, Head of Lang Co Border Guard Station, said that there is currently a Border Control Station on the island. In carrying out its duties, Lang Co Border Guard Station also grasped the above information, however, through monitoring by the forces at the Station, in recent years, apart from survey trips by functional units, there are no travel agencies of businesses from Da Nang bringing tourists to the island. They only bring tourists to areas belonging to Da Nang.

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