What should be done to preserve the Con Son historical site?

The road leading to the Con Son historical site is being widened and upgraded. Photo: THANH CHUNG

Investment priority

Last weekend, while taking her son to visit Con Son Pagoda, Ms. Tran Thi Kim Oanh (from Hai Phong City) was surprised by the improved road leading to the site. “Previously, the road was narrow and often congested during festivals. Now, it has been paved with asphalt and widened, contributing to a more spacious and beautiful landscape around the site,” Ms. Oanh said.

To promote the potential for developing into a national tourist area, many projects are being implemented at both Con Son and Kiet Bac historical sites. One of them is the project to build a riverside wharf, market, festival grounds, and parking area in front of Kiet Bac Temple. Dr. Le Duy Manh, Deputy Head of the Con Son - Kiet Bac Historical Site Management Board, said that the project area covers 6 hectares in front of the left dike of the Thuong River, with a total estimated investment of 98 billion VND. The project, once completed, will create a bustling scene of boats and ships, meeting the tourism needs of visitors.

In addition, the projects to renovate and restore Mam Xoi Mountain; build the Tran Hung Dao Museum; the Vien Lang complex; restore and renovate Thanh Hu Temple; and revive Con Son Stream… are also about to be implemented simultaneously.

This area will be used for the construction project of a riverside wharf and market on the Thuong River, a festival grounds, and a parking lot in front of the Kiet Bac Temple. Photo: THANH CHUNG

Identified as a potential national tourism development site, Con Son - Kiet Bac is included in the list of priority investment projects for the 2021-2030 period. In addition, investments are also being made in digital transformation; training and developing human resources; preserving and promoting resource values; and protecting the environment. These projects are all important and urgent, aiming to create a breakthrough for tourism development.

Developing new services

One of the key tasks in developing Con Son - Kiet Bac into a national tourist area is the creation of new tourism products and services.

According to the leaders of the Con Son - Kiet Bac Relic Management Board, in the short term, the Kiet Bac Temple area could attract investment packages in the form of build-operate-transfer contracts to build a separate road in the area, connecting Kiet Bac and Con Son. Transportation would be electric vehicles or horse-drawn carriages. Both sides of the road could be planned with rest areas and souvenir shops to meet the recreational and shopping needs of tourists. At the Kiet Bac Temple area, a fleet of tourist boats could be built on the Luc Dau River. Visitors could enjoy scenic boat trips, watch excerpts about the Tran Dynasty's resistance against invaders, and experience unique folk cultural activities. In the Con Son area, camping activities around the lake could be organized on weekends. Research should be conducted on unique souvenir products from traditional craft villages in Hai Duong , and local cuisine reflecting the unique characteristics of the relic area. With its potential for nature tourism and unique cultural values, in the future, the Con Son - Kiet Bac historical site can offer additional ecotourism products such as visiting and learning about the forest ecosystem, mountain climbing, and camping.

It is expected that tourism services at the Con Son-Kiep Bac historical site will become more diverse. Photo: THANH CHUNG

To achieve this, significant investment capital is needed, mobilized from various sources such as the state budget (both central and local), socialized capital, and especially investment from businesses. To ensure the attraction of investment resources, Hai Duong is considering specific mechanisms and policies applied exclusively to the historical site to encourage domestic and foreign economic entities to invest in and develop products and facilities within the tourist area.

According to Ms. Hoang Thi Thuy, Director of Dong Chay Viet International Tourism Company (Hai Duong City), meditation and wellness tourism models in Bai Dinh (Ninh Binh) and Tam Chuc (Ha Nam) attract many tourists. One of the attractive factors is the synchronized infrastructure with beautiful resorts and services equivalent to 3-star hotels, such as buffet breakfast and daily salt foot baths. In Hai Duong, the infrastructure such as restaurants and hotels is not yet sufficient to develop the aforementioned services. The province could research and develop meditation and wellness tourism similar to what Ninh Binh and Ha Nam provinces have done.

Deputy Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Minh Hung affirmed that Hai Duong always prioritizes investment to make tourism a key economic sector, contributing positively to the province's socio-economic development. To achieve the goal of becoming a national tourist area, the Hai Duong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to review the criteria, comparing them with the reality of the Con Son-Kiep Bac historical site to identify which criteria have been met and which have not. From there, a specific plan should be developed, clearly assigning responsibilities to each individual and department.

LE HUONG

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/lam-gi-de-khu-di-tich-con-son-kiep-bac-thanh-khu-du-lich-quoc-gia-386762.html