Phong Nha - Ke Bang reaches out to the world

The World Natural Heritage Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (PN-KBNP) of Quang Binh province is one of the most unique and beautiful models in Vietnam and the world.

The presence of PN-KB National Park in the heritage map has opened a new direction of development, which is to both protect, conserve and promote the value of resources to develop tourism in order to make PN-KB a brand of Quang Binh, Vietnam and reach the world ... Quang Binh tourism brand Director of the Management Board of PN-KB National Park Pham Hong Thai shared that PN-KB is known as the "Kingdom of Caves". With nearly 400 large and small caves that have been measured and drawn with a total length of more than 240km, Quang Binh has been aiming to build an international brand of adventure tourism. Tours to explore Phong Nha cave, Tu Lan cave, Tien cave, En cave, Va cave, Kong sinkhole, Pygmy cave and most especially the Son Doong cave exploration tour - the world's largest cave - are of great significance in cave exploration research in the region, contributing greatly to promoting the image of Vietnam, Quang Binh and PN-KB around the world...

Cave exploration tours always attract tourists to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. (Source: Phong Nha-Ke Bang Documents)

According to the Director of the PN-KB National Park Management Board, to ensure both promoting the value of resources for tourism development and preserving sustainable heritage, the Park Management Board always focuses on monitoring and assessing the level of impact and influence of tourism activities on caves to have appropriate conservation directions; actively cooperating with research units on geology and cave environmental factors to support the management, conservation and development of tourism; researching and investigating caves, biodiversity, sociological surveys, collecting data on national forest ecological positioning plots and cooperating in investigating and exploring caves... With the view that PN-KB tourism is the face and heart of Quang Binh tourism, the PN-KB National Park Management Board has taken many measures to bring tourism a new look and gradually develop in a professional direction with many types of tourism towards sustainable resource use and shared values.

Cave exploration tours always attract tourists to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. (Source: Phong Nha-Ke Bang Documents)

“The Management Board of PN-KB National Park has gradually diversified tourism products, proactively and synchronously implemented all three forms of tourism exploitation including self-implementation, joint ventures and leasing of forest environmental services to improve exploitation efficiency as well as gradually diversify tourism products; proactively coordinate to promote, encourage and create favorable conditions for businesses to survey and invest in developing new tourism products at PN-KB National Park…”, Director of PN-KB National Park Management Board added. Director of PN-KB Tourism Center Hoang Minh Thang said that from only having one Phong Nha-Tien Son cave attraction, up to now, PN-KB has had 15 routes and tourist attractions in operation with many rich and diverse types of tourism: Nature exploration, cave exploration, camping, trekking, zipline...

Cave exploration tours always attract tourists to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. (Source: Phong Nha-Ke Bang Documents)

In particular, the tour “Conquering Son Doong - the world's largest cave” is considered an international-class tour, voted by foreign press as one of the world's most attractive tourist destinations. In the period 2003-2023, the total number of tourists visiting PN-KB National Park reached over 9.5 million, of which international visitors reached over 1.1 million; Revenue from fees and charges reached over 1,742 billion VND... "Promoting the promotion and introduction of the image of PN-KB National Park, tourism products and services in various forms on the media, on domestic and international television channels, electronic newspapers, newspapers, internet, social networks; developing an annual tourism promotion and advertising plan for implementation; rebuilding the reception and service plan to ensure optimal satisfaction for tourists to create a strong tourism promotion effect towards the international market...", the Director of PN-KB Tourism Center shared. Tourism in PN-KB National Park not only contributes to the economic development of the province but is also an effective solution to preserve heritage, reduce pressure on resources through creating jobs for people; creating a trend of shifting labor from the previous exploitation of natural resources to tourism and service development, contributing to job creation, increasing income, stabilizing the lives of people in the buffer zone, significantly reducing pressure on national park resources, creating favorable conditions for good forest protection and heritage conservation.

Cave exploration tours always attract tourists to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. (Source: Phong Nha-Ke Bang Documents)

Currently, there are more than 3,000 people in the buffer zone directly participating in tourism and service activities, such as: Eating, resting, entertaining, producing souvenirs; participating in forest protection groups, village conservation groups, tour guides, porters, boat teams serving tourists, photographers... At one point, in Phong Nha town (Bo Trach) and the surrounding area, there were up to 114 accommodation establishments with more than 1,000 rooms. For Phong Nha - Ke Bang tourism to reach new heights, being honored twice as a World Natural Heritage has affirmed and enhanced the role and position of PN-KB National Park; at the same time, attracting the attention of many domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to PN-KB National Park. Director of the PN-KB National Park Management Board Pham Hong Thai said that in order for the PN-KB tourism brand to increasingly reach the world, the park management board has determined that in the coming time, it is necessary to focus on implementing a number of key tasks: Promoting the work of promoting the value of natural resources in a reasonable manner to develop appropriate types of tourism and tourism products, especially eco-tourism in a sustainable direction; focusing on quality and uniqueness, developing new routes according to the roadmap and on the basis of thresholds and capacity of the forest environment.

Journey to explore 4.5km of Phong Nha cave by kayak. (Source: Phong Nha-Ke Bang Documents)

At the same time, call for and encourage investment projects in tourism services in the buffer zone, create conditions for local communities to participate in and benefit from tourism activities to reduce pressure on heritage resources; train and improve professional qualifications and skills for tourism staff in a professional direction; apply 4.0 technology and invest in modern equipment to serve the tourism industry... In addition, continue to promote communication and promotion to spread the image of PN-KB National Park - World Natural Heritage to the domestic and foreign communities more widely; proactively connect and implement regional linkages, especially localities with heritage to better promote tourism images; attract investment resources from society and large corporations to invest in projects and develop new high-quality tourism products of regional and international stature; Strive to turn PN-KB tourism into a national tourist area, becoming the adventure tourism capital of Asia...

Director of the Management Board of PN-KB National Park Pham Hong Thai: “The core value of PN-KB National Park is not only on the scale of Quang Binh, Vietnam but also on a global scale. Existing on this vast limestone mountain range are diverse and rare flora and fauna populations and hundreds of discovered caves. The geological, geomorphological, climatic and ecological features here have created beautiful natural landscapes, typically the mysterious and majestic cave system. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen coordination with functional departments to advise the Provincial People's Committee to promote investment promotion programs to invite businesses inside and outside the province to invest in exploiting and promoting tourism values and potentials; strive to put 3-5 routes and tourism products into operation in each term, contributing to diversifying tourism products…”. Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/phong-nha-ke-bang-vuon-tam-the-gioi-20230627085704121.htm