Speech by Provincial Party Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet at the UN Tourism International Conference on Rural Tourism

SPEECH OF PROVINCIAL PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARY LUONG NGUYEN MINH TRIET AT UN TOURISM'S INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RURAL TOURISM

- Dear Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic - Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism)!

- Dear Mr. Ho An Phong - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Head of the Conference Organizing Committee!

- Dear leaders of the Party, State, ministries, central agencies and leaders of provinces and cities!

- Dear all guests!

First of all, on behalf of the local leaders and people, I would like to warmly welcome all of you to Quang Nam - a hospitable land with a rich cultural identity and historical traditions to attend the First International Conference on Rural Tourism and the Second Annual Meeting of the Best Villages Network of UN Tourism. I wish all leaders and guests good health and happiness. I wish the conference a great success!

Quang Nam Provincial Party Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet delivered the opening speech at the event. Photo: TL

Dear leaders and guests!

Quang Nam Province is honored to be selected by the Government, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and UN Tourism as the host of the first International Conference on Rural Tourism and the second Annual Meeting of the Best Villages Network of UN Tourism . This is the first global event of UN Tourism on rural tourism, with the participation of 300 delegates from national and local management agencies of member countries, international organizations, the tourism community and the private sector .

The conference is a valuable opportunity for the province to continue promoting communication and promoting the image of "Quang Nam - Green tourism destination" ; promoting close and effective cooperation between Vietnam tourism in general and Quang Nam in particular with UN Tourism and other countries, member organizations, and UN Tourism's Best Tourism Villages. With its responsibility, Quang Nam will actively coordinate with relevant parties to make the program successful, convey the conference's message, participate in contributing initiatives towards the goal of developing sustainable rural tourism, ensuring equitable distribution of tourism benefits, creating jobs, protecting natural and cultural resources, integrating into society, empowering local communities and vulnerable groups, including women, youth and indigenous people.

Tra Que vegetable village. Photo: QT

International tourists experience watering vegetables at Tra Que vegetable village. Photo: QT

Tra Que vegetable village has been exploited for tourism quite early and is a favorite destination for international visitors. Photo: QT

Dear guests!

Quang Nam, a land with a rich tradition, history, culture, the land of "five phoenixes flying together" with 2 world cultural heritages: Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary; Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve; Bai Choi art honored as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity; Tra Que vegetable growing recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage; the extremely majestic and solemn complex of the Statue of the Heroic Vietnamese Mother; 125km of coastline with many famous beaches; Ky Anh Tunnels - one of the 3 largest tunnels in the country today; Loc Yen Ancient Village - one of the 4 ancient villages in the country ranked as a national monument; the vast and poetic Truong Son mountains and forests; Ngoc Linh ginseng - Vietnam's national treasure and many other famous scenic spots, historical and cultural relics...

In addition, Quang Nam is located in the center of Vietnam, the gateway connecting with countries in the Mekong Sub-region and ASEAN, located on the East-West economic corridor. With the advantage of connecting by road, waterway and air with countries in the region, Quang Nam is truly a major tourist center of the country.

Green tourism in recent years has been an inevitable development trend of global tourism, increasingly attracting widespread attention from tourists, tourism businesses in particular as well as the social community in general. Since 2019, Quang Nam province has begun to issue a consistent message on green tourism development, aiming at sustainability and then becoming the first locality in the country to issue a set of provincial green tourism criteria.

Triem Tay community tourism village (Dien Ban) used to be very famous and loved by international visitors. Photo: QT

Over the past 5 years, Quang Nam has been striving to develop the local tourism industry in the direction of green tourism, thanks to which, destinations in Quang Nam have increasingly attracted tourists, leaving a good impression in the eyes of international friends; at the same time, contributing to the implementation of Net zero tourism according to the commitment roadmap of the Vietnamese Government. In April 2023, the British travel website Wanderlust selected Quang Nam as one of the top 4 green tourism destinations in Asia, with environmentally friendly tourism products.

Quang Nam province's planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, has identified tourism as the foundation for driving socio-economic growth. Quang Nam focuses on developing and creating green tourism products, based on the foundation of rich and diverse natural resources and unique indigenous cultural values, creating opportunities for resource conservation and sustainable tourism development. Economic development is not at all costs, but must have harmonious economic, cultural, social and environmental development.

Rural agricultural tourism in Quang Nam began to take shape in 2010 and has developed strongly since 2013. Tourist spots are distributed in most localities in the province. Currently, there are 126 rural agricultural tourism resource spots that have been counted, many of which operate very effectively such as: Thanh Ha pottery village, Tra Que vegetable village, Bay Mau - Cam Thanh coconut forest, Kim Bong carpentry village (Hoi An), Co Tu community-based tourism village (Nam Giang)...

It is estimated that over 30% of tourists coming to Quang Nam experience agricultural and rural tourism products. The most prominent is the Bay Mau - Cam Thanh coconut forest tourist destination in Hoi An city, attracting nearly 1 million visitors; Tra Que vegetable village attracts nearly 25,000 visitors in 2024. On November 14, 2024 in Colombia, Quang Nam was delighted and honored to receive the UN Tourism award recognizing Tra Que vegetable village in Quang Nam province as the Best Tourist Village in 2024.

Bay Mau Coconut Forest (Cam Thanh Commune, Hoi An City) is currently the best rural tourist attraction in Quang Nam. Photo: HS

The beauty of Tra Ly lotus fields (Duy Xuyen). Photo: HS

At the cultural tourist destination of Au Lac, foreign visitors are excited about the products of carving.

Dear leaders and distinguished guests!

Within the framework of the conference program , Quang Nam province will organize a destination survey program for all delegates on 11/12/2024 . Participating in the program, you will explore the outstanding rural and cultural tourism products of Quang Nam province, experience the peaceful beauty of Tra Que vegetable village, learn about the traditional pottery art at Thanh Ha pottery village and visit Hoi An ancient town - a world cultural heritage.

On this occasion, I would like to respectfully invite all distinguished guests to arrange their time to participate in the above tour program. Hopefully, the friendly and hospitable land and people of Quang Nam will leave a good impression in the hearts of all of you.

Once again, I wish all leaders and distinguished guests good health, happiness and success. I wish the first International Conference on Rural Tourism and the second Annual Meeting of the UN Tourism Best Villages Network in Quang Nam - Vietnam a success!

Thank you very much!

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/phat-bieu-cua-bi-thu-tinh-uy-luong-nguyen-minh-triet-tai-hoi-nghi-quoc-te-ve-du-lich-nong-thon-cua-un-tourism-3145651.html