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Attractive but not enough to keep tourists
Motorcyclists and people getting off tourist cars parked on the large space in front of the ticket counter with waiting rooms.
An Phu tour guide Nguyen Quoc Dung took tourists to My Son on May 7, 2025 and said that the heritage is still attractive to foreign tourists.
Regardless of rain or shine, visitors from all over the world choose My Son as their destination in their trip to Quang Nam . Ticket inspectors of the My Son Cultural Heritage Management Board said that every day there are thousands of visitors.
My Son now has many new features. Upgrading the road to the heritage, renovating the tourist space outside the Card slot, connecting the infrastructure and landscape such as the passenger waiting room, transit area, and parking lot.
Open kiosks for rent, food markets, open diverse sales services for local products of regional heritage, souvenirs with typical Cham cultural images, local OCOP products, multilingual explanations, virtual reality tours of My Son on 360 platform, increase the frequency of Cham folk art performances...
The number of tourists according to statistics increases every year. In 2022, there will be about 110,366 visitors (66,879 foreign visitors); in 2023, about 378,778 visitors (334,416 foreign visitors); in 2024, it will increase to 457,378 visitors (416,908 foreign visitors). In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the total number of visitors to My Son will reach 149,712 (139,677 foreign visitors).
The average annual growth rate of tourists is impressive, showing the attraction of the heritage. According to calculations, if only 10% of visitors staying at My Son or people living near the heritage had additional income from selling local handicrafts... they would certainly have a better life.
The management board of this heritage site has opened many more products and services, but with no visitors staying, My Son has remained quiet for many years. Even the "Mysterious My Son Night" held monthly on the 16th night of the lunar calendar since May 2022 has been forced to stop due to lack of funds to maintain it.
The core economic value of this heritage site is still selling tickets and collecting money. Many old investment projects worth thousands of billions of dong on the outskirts of the ancient tower have run out of steam. New projects are only in the planning stage. Preserving the heritage before it falls into disrepair must rely on funding and support from other countries or international organizations.
Socialized investment: Still a long way off?
The proposal not to ask for money, but only to ask for mechanisms and policies to promote and preserve Quang Nam's heritage has been approved by the Prime Minister for socialized investment (Conclusion No. 135 dated May 6, 2022).
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Research and proposal of appropriate mechanisms and policies for socialized heritage investment have been conducted. A study trip to learn about socialized models of heritage management at Angkor Wat (Cambodia) has been established.
Duy Xuyen District People's Committee contracts with consulting units to research and propose a socialized management mechanism for My Son Temple Complex (core zone and buffer zone).
Quang Nam authorities have confirmed that the value of My Son heritage has not yet been properly exploited. The government’s policy of developing the cultural industry is an opportunity, with a specific roadmap, to improve the management and conservation of My Son heritage, which is a reality, not a distant future.
However, not only local authorities but also the Central Government are struggling and finding it difficult to develop a project to socialize investment in My Son because it involves many mechanisms and long-term visions, which are very difficult to implement.
Mr. Phan Xuan Canh - Chairman of Duy Xuyen District People's Committee said that the previous regulations (still in effect) hindered the locality from planning for development. If the difficulties of the old regulations cannot be resolved, even if a project is developed, nothing can be done.
The first difficulty to consider is that the master plan for the conservation and promotion of the value of the My Son relic site for the period 2008 - 2022 has expired. The master plan for the My Son relic site for the period 2020 - 2030, with a vision to 2045, is currently being prepared by the Institute for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments (under the Department of Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism).
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Quang Nam does not have enough basis to implement the socialization project because it has not yet identified the buffer zone, core zone, strictly protected zone, exploited and promoted zone, and relics that need to be prioritized for restoration and preservation to serve as a basis for developing a suitable socialization plan. It is expected that in the second quarter of 2025, the project will be completed and submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.
On April 2, 2025, the Provincial People's Committee announced that it had completed the dossier on the Task of establishing a Plan for the preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of the special national relic My Son Temple Complex in Quang Nam province until 2030 with a vision to 2050, according to comments on March 13, 2025 from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: The Provincial People's Committee is reviewing and submitting to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The Ministry will appraise and submit to the Prime Minister for approval the My Son Temple Complex Planning Task for the period 2025 - 2035, with a vision to 2050. With this decision, the locality will have a basis to implement the next steps, considering completing the project of socializing heritage investment, and submitting to the competent authority for approval.
There are many specific contents, such as: Clearly defining criteria for selecting investors; defining ownership of tower areas belonging to the state; rights and levels of private management and exploitation of relics; supervision work of state agencies; revenue sharing ratio to serve the management, exploitation and restoration of relics...
The plan to complete the project in August 2022 to send comments to central ministries and branches before reporting to the Government and Prime Minister in October 2022 could not be implemented.
This project has been included in the Government's Work Program for 2024, but so far it has only stopped at the appraisal and approval of the Planning Task. With this delay, it is unknown when the aspiration to socialize investment in My Son heritage through bidding to select investors to manage, exploit, preserve, maintain and promote the value of the relic will become a reality!
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/xa-hoi-hoa-dau-tu-khai-thac-di-san-my-son-bao-gio-thanh-hien-thuc-3154692.html
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