Connecting heritage tourism areas

The Hue - Da Nang heritage tourist train was officially opened at the end of March. Photo: QT

The admiration permeated the journey of the first guests to experience the Hue - Da Nang tourist train route.

Link movement

From the train window, the winding mountain pass of the “world’s most majestic pass” Hai Van passes comes into view. The green waves from Lang Co Bay, or the vast green forests from Bach Ma National Park… are enough to create attraction.

It is not too much to call this "the train connecting the heritage of the Central region". Because the train route passes through the most magnificent landscapes of the country. It is not surprising that a long time ago, many foreign travel magazines suggested the Hue - Da Nang train route as an experience worth trying for tourists when coming to Vietnam.

Mr. Dang Sy Manh - Chairman of the Board of Members of Vietnam Railway Corporation said that, in addition to the tasks of transporting passengers and goods, the unit wishes to share its own values with the community.

The train journey is for tourism and experience, with the train as a “mobile check-in” point, the station as a destination for culture, art, history, and heritage. The Hue - Da Nang train route is a model to materialize this.

The operation of the Hue - Da Nang heritage train also helps attract more visitors to Hoi An and My Son. Photo: QT

“We want to target the luxury cruise ship segment, connecting more localities and regions. Aiming for more convenient services, such as cooperating with other modes of transport to make a ticket for the entire journey of tourists, the cruise journey is a segment in the journey of tourists”, said Mr. Dang Sy Manh.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that according to the assessment from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the tourism linkage between Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, and Quang Nam is the most effective model in the country with the message "one journey - 3 destinations".

The opening of the Hue - Da Nang train route is a very good signal for the movement of the connection, indirectly bringing more tourists to Hoi An and My Son in Quang Nam.

Resources waiting to be awakened

It has been nearly twenty years since the three central localities officially “joined hands” to develop tourism. Although it has been a long time, at present, the activities to promote linkages are still very open and spread across many spaces.

Localities in the region can promote linkages in both sea tourism, river tourism, and highland tourism, as well as discovery and adventure tourism in the west.

If the dredging of Co Co River is completed, it promises to create a great momentum for promoting tourism links between Da Nang and Quang Nam. Photo: QT

The French once built a Da Nang - Hoi An railway line that lasted until the early 20th century. It would be an unforgettable experience for tourists if the train journey from the ancient capital of Hue to the ancient town of Hoi An was seamless.

This tourist railway idea has also been proposed by many planners and tourism businesses and is believed to be very useful for connecting the Central region.

Another tourist route that is expected to create momentum for regional tourism linkages is the Co Co River. Along the overland journey through the Central region, tourists have experienced many stories about the journey of opening up the land of their ancestors.

With the waterway route through Co Co River, visitors will contemplate the bustling trade route in the past, contributing significantly to the formation of the once-famous Hoi An trading port.

In addition, a continuous trekking journey from Bach Ma National Park to Ba Na - Nui Chua, to the majestic reserves in the west of Quang Nam is enough to bring the feeling of discovering the spectacular nature in the Central Truong Son ecological region. This is one of the 200 important ecological regions of the world waiting to be awakened.

The story of tourism connection between Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, and Quang Nam was also discussed many times at the conference of the North Central and Central Coastal Coordination Council. Many expectations were raised that the Government would set aside specific policies and mechanisms to develop this "model" tourism connection in the near future.

“There is a lot of room for tourism linkages between the provinces and cities in the Central region, including in the fields of agricultural tourism, experience tourism, and returning to the source tourism… but there are still some problems with land lease, especially in the western region.

Localities in the region are also researching the Da Nang - Cu Lao Cham - Tam Hai - Ly Son sea tourism route to open more high-end sea tourism products, but this still needs time to meet regulations as well as stronger participation from businesses," said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong.

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