What tourism products is Nghe An developing?

Tourism products are not diverse

Evaluating Nghe An tourism in recent years, many people have the same opinion: Although tourism products have improved, they have not created a breakthrough, and there are no products that create a distinctive brand.

The coastal city of Cua Lo and the Kim Lien National Special Relic Site (Nam Dan) have been key tourist attractions of Nghe An for many years. However, objectively speaking, the majority of Cua Lo’s destinations are still local visitors, the number of visitors from other provinces is gradually decreasing, especially when recently many coastal tourist areas have appeared in the region.

Visitors to Kim Lien National Special Relic Site mainly make pilgrimages to the source, expressing respect and gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh .

Tourists swimming at Cua Lo beach. Photo: Ho Dinh Chien

Up to now, when talking about Nghe An tourism, many tourists in the Southern and Northern provinces think that this place only has Cua Lo beach and Uncle Ho's hometown. That reflects the reality that Nghe An's tourism products are not rich and have not created a breakthrough, thereby not attracting many tourists for the experience.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An - Deputy General Director of Fiditour - Vietluxtour Travel Joint Stock Company (Ho Chi Minh City) said that in the minds of people from all over the country, Nghe An tourism is mainly "returning to the source" programs, bringing tourists to the Kim Lien Special National Monument; to the simple and rustic Cua Lo beach, not enough to "hold" tourists, especially tourists from the South.

Tourists visit Uncle Ho's hometown. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Because of the climate, tourism is only exploited half of the year. As for the southern provinces, Nghe An is still not strong enough to attract major tourist centers such as Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho, although there are direct flights from these localities.

Sharing the same opinion with Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An, Mr. Nguyen Phi Phong - Head of Product Department, Mytour Tourism Joint Stock Company (Hanoi) said: "Nghe An is focusing on developing sea tourism in Cua Lo and historical and spiritual destinations such as Kim Lien National Special Relic Site. That makes tourists from big cities like Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho always think that Nghe An only has Cua Lo and Uncle Ho's hometown. This causes limitations for the economic development of Nghe An tourism, because sea tourism can only be exploited for a few months each year during the hot season.

Product restructuring

From the above reality, Nghe An province has identified the urgent need to gradually restructure tourism products in the direction of focused development and improving quality on the basis of building specific products with the Nghe An tourism brand.

Because, according to experts, Nghe An tourism still has a lot of potential to continue to develop by building new products and renewing existing products. In particular, the Western region with its majestic and poetic mountain and forest landscapes, rich villages and unique cultural life and customs of ethnic minorities is a valuable resource for building tourism products.

The terrain of Mon Son commune (Con Cuong) is suitable for building new tourism products "kayaking - trekking - mountain biking". Photo: Nguyen Sach

Having participated in a Famtrip survey in Nghe An, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An said that he discovered many routes and tourist destinations that could be exploited, creating many different types of products, suitable for many customer groups, and could be exploited all year round.

Mr. An temporarily proposed new types of tourism in addition to traditional tours that can be exploited immediately, including: Sports tourism, adventure mountain climbing associated with Puxailaileng peak (Ky Son) and with Giang river, Pha Lai (Con Cuong); Cultural tourism to experience the identity of ethnic groups in the highlands...

Since 2017, kayaking has been tested on the Giang River. Photo courtesy of Tuong Vi

However, to deploy these types of products, it is first necessary to standardize support services such as accommodation, transportation, tour guides, menus and local travel agencies.

Mr. Nguyen Phi Phong also noticed that in Nghe An, besides Cua Lo, Cua Hoi, Uncle Ho's hometown, destinations such as Puxailaileng peak (Ky Son), Pu Mat National Park, Giang River - Pha Lai (Con Cuong) and Hon Mat (Nghia Dan) ... are attractive destinations for tourists in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Conquering Puxailaileng peak. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

The problem here is that the promotion and communication of travel agencies are weak and have not been implemented in a synchronous and consistent manner. Currently, tourism communication work is not strong enough to promote tourism in Western Nghe An to take off.

For Nghe An tourism to develop further, it is necessary to ensure the following factors: Travel companies must start researching and building the most professional tourism products, researching the target audience and appropriate length of stay for the customer base; destinations need legal support for safe tourism and standard accommodation facilities.

The Department of Tourism leader said that the tourism industry is currently developing two new products, the first is the product “Kayaking - trekking - mountain biking from Pha Lai dam (Xieng village) to Co Phat village (Mon Son commune - Con Cuong)”. The second is the product “Conquering Puxailaileng peak” (Ky Son) - considered the “roof of the Northern Truong Son range”.

With these two tourism products (which are in the process of completion), the tourism industry expects to attract a large number of visitors, especially international visitors. These products will be linked with traditional products such as community tourism, visiting relics and scenic spots in the region to support each other and retain tourists.

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