Ecological sea tours are strong points of BinhDinhProvince in taking advantage of the EWEC. Photo: Dao Tien Dat

Advantages of tourism development

EWEC concept was first introduced and approved by the 8^th Open Ministerial Conference among countries in Greater Mekong sub-region in Manila (Philippines) in October 1998. The EWEC is 1,450 km long (or 1,600 km in some other documents). It connects Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean, crossing 4 countries (from Mawlamine port city in Myanmar through Thailand, Laos to Vietnam). In Vietnam land, it starts at Lao Bao Border Gate in QuangTriProvince and ends in Da NangProvince after going through ThuaThienHueProvince. All the provinces are in Central Vietnam.

Along the EWEC, there are many international heritages recognized by UNESCO. We may visit the heritages in Hue (Vietnam), Sukhothai (Thailand),etc. if we travel along the corridor. In Vietnam, many heritages adjacent to the corridor are also found, namely My Son, Hoi An, Phong Nha rather than Hue only. The cultural and historical relic sites are actually spots of tourist interest and offer diversified types of tours like eco-tours, cultural and historical studying tours, religious pilgrimages, visits to used-to-be war-zone, etc. All these forms of the tours can be combined one another to create unique tourism services for both local and international tourists.

The Friendship Bridge No. 2 linking Mukdahan (Thailand) to Savanakhet (Laos) was inaugurated in 20^th December 2006. The EWEC is ,thus, officially opened and many opportunities for the countries in Mekong Delta sub-region to do business are going to bloom. When the bridge was open for public traffic, 200 buses carrying 2 delegations of caravan tourists from Thailand passed the bridge to enter Central Vietnam through Lao Bao Border Gate. The delegations visited heritages in Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An Provinces and then returned home through Bo Y Border Gate in highland KonTumProvince (Central Vietnam).

Although the EWEC is still in its very first stage, it has brought many development opportunities to the countries along the corridor. The provinces in Central Vietnam are not exceptions.

Opportunities for BinhDinhProvince tourism

The corridor geographically stops at Da NangProvince but BinhDinhProvince has many favourable conditions to take advantage of the corridor in term of socio-economic development in general and tourism in particular.

BinhDinhProvince locates in key economic zone of Central Vietnam, 300 kms away from Da Nang by road (1A National Highway). Such distance is quite convinient for travelling from Da Nang, a destination of the corridor, to BinhDinhProvince. Furthermore, BinhDinhProvince has a lot of prominent natural and human sources. Together with Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Da NangProvinces, Binh Dinh will establish a network of attractive coastal spots.

Binh Dinh has good transport infrastructure which is a favourable advantage for opening many international tours. Let’s take some example: Quy Nhon-Da Nang air line, Binh Dinh-Quang Ngai-Quang Nam-Da Nang- Thua Thien Hue 1A National Highway and seaway with Quy Nhon Port. Especially, Vietnam’s National Highway 19 in BinhDinhProvince, part of the EWEC, was connected with National Highway 18B of Laos through Bo Y Border Gate. The National Highway 19 - Bo Y Border Gate – the National Highway 1A from BinhDinhProvince to Da NangProvince form a closed and uninterrupted route. Furthermore, a “sub-corridor”, the National Highway 19-Bo Y Border Gate-the National Highway 18B (in Laos) route, may be built as it also contributes an important part to economic co-operation (including tourism) among the countries in the Greater Mekong sub-region.

In reality, BinhDinhProvince has actively expanded its comprehensive cooperation in many fields including tourism with  provinces of Southern Laos and Thailand in the past years. Many socio-economic, diplomatic and cultural activities have been taken place on basis of mutual co-operation agreements.

A stretch of the National Highway 18B linking provinces in Southern Laos with Bo Y Border Gate (in Kon Tom Province, Vietnam). Photo: Cat Hung

What should be done to take advantage of the opportunities and to develop?

BinhDinhProvince can take advantage of the EWEC in two ways. It may extend the tours of the main route from Da NangProvince to BinhDinhProvince. At the same time, it can develop its own tours of the sub-route linking Binh Dinh -Gia Lai – Kon Tum – Nam Lao – Northeast Thailand and Cambodia. A lot of things should be done to develop and exploit the EWEC route in term of tourism . Creation of services suitable to the EWEC tourists should be put in the first priority. Two systems of main and unique tourist products of BinhDinhProvince (cultural-historical tours and ecological sea-forest-countryside tours) should be two considerable options.

Tourist markets in the Greater Mekong sub-region and other countries linking to the EWEC as well as transportation infrastructure (by land, caravan, airline, conjugate form of roadway-railway,etc.) should be put into consideration when designing and introducing the tourist goods. The tourist goods/tours of BinhDinhProvince should be put in correlative comparison with tourist goods/tours of other localities. In addition, state tourist bodies and agencies and enterprises should enhance their promotion on the tourist goods/tours, perfectively upgrading their tourist services and technical infrastructure step-by-step. Mutual co-operation among travel agencies and hotels, co-operation among provincial, national and international tourist businesses should be fostered. Enterprises operating in related fields should be involved in the promotion plan.

Developing the provincal tourism on basis of EWEC is actually potential and promising direction, reflecting a general trend of coastal provinces in Central Vietnam. Binh Dinh – with its conditions and capacities – should be proactive to take advantage of the opportunities.

• Written by M.A Hoang Van Thoan
• Translated by To Uyen