Kien Giang Phu Quoc leaders proposed promoting forest leasing to create attractive tourism products as the number of visitors to the pearl island has recently decreased.
The proposal was made by Secretary of Phu Quoc City Party Committee Tong Phuoc Truong at the 14th conference of the Kien Giang Provincial Party Executive Committee on September 29.
"Why is it said that Phu Quoc tourism is not attractive recently? I propose that the sectors speed up the implementation of forest environment leasing. This is an attractive model, avoiding spontaneous and difficult-to-manage situations," said Mr. Truong.
Tourists experience the trekking route at Phu Quoc National Park. Photo: Nguyen Anh Tien
Two years ago, Kien Giang approved a forest leasing project aimed at protecting and promoting the value of the forest ecosystem, creating a foundation for sustainable economic and social development, especially tourism development.
The project was established on the basis that Kien Giang has leased more than 850 hectares of forest, mainly in Phu Quoc National Park, out of a total of nearly 21,000 hectares of forest in the province that are assessed to have potential for leasing. 770 hectares of forest are being leased in Phu Quoc, bringing in nearly 400 million VND each year. Currently, Phu Quoc has about 37,000 hectares of forest (more than 60% of the island's area), of which Phu Quoc National Park accounts for more than 31,000 hectares.
The forest leasing procedure involves many steps, requiring the forest owner to develop a 10-year sustainable forest management plan and a tourism project to be submitted to the competent authority for approval. On this basis, the forest owner leases the forest to investors to develop suitable tourism projects.
The rental price is implemented according to Decree 156/2018/ND-CP (detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Forestry Law) and the agreement between the two parties but is not lower than 1% of the total revenue of the forest lessee on the rented area.
Trekking trail in Phu Quoc National Park. Photo: Nguyen Anh Tien
The number of visitors to Phu Quoc has recently tended to decrease: April 30 holiday decreased by 11.5%, National Day decreased by 26% compared to the same period in 2022. In September, due to the impact of storms and rains and being the low season of the coastal city, the number of visitors decreased by more than 40% compared to August and 1.3% compared to the same period in 2022.
However, in the first 9 months of 2023, the number of tourists to Phu Quoc increased by 20% in quantity and 88% in revenue compared to 2022.
Ngoc Tai
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