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Quang Trung Museum – one of attractive destinations in Binh Dinh |
Binh Dinh province is situated in the central coastal region with a plenty of natural landscapes as well as historical and cultural sites, which are helpful elements for the development of tourism. In the country’s development plan of tourism till 2010, Binh Dinh has been considered an important link among national key tours.
Exploiting Potentials
With more than 134 kilometers of coastal line remaining neglected beauty, Binh Dinh province is home to numerous landscapes and beaches like Quy Nhon, Ghenh Rang, Quy Hoa… in addition, the central province has various kinds of terrain including mountains, rivers, lakes and nearly 150,000 hectares of forests.
The natural areas like Ham Ho, Ham Nui Mot, Nui Ba represent colorful landscapes, which are ideal for the province to develop different kinds of tourism like eco tourism, mountain climbing and resort.
Binh Dinh is also a land with a depth of history and culture and is a homeland of the national hero Quang Trung-Nguyen Hue and many culturists of the country like Dao Duy Tu, Xuan Dieu, Han Mac Tu.
Binh Dinh is also well-known for its cultural sites like Thanh Do Ban, 14 Champa towers, Go Sanh ancient pottery, Quang Trung museum, and historical sites related to the Tay Son revolution movement. Visiting Binh Dinh, tourists will get the opportunity to contemplate beautiful performances of martial arts and war drum and the sportsmanship of Tay Son people.
In its development plan, Binh Dinh province has defined tourism as a key element for its economy and is focusing on building some tours.
Among measures for the five-year tourism development plan from 2006 to 2010, the province has mapped out the planning of traditional craft villages like woodwork, Bau Da wine and palm-leaf conical hats to serve the tourism sector.
The province has also decided to expand the exploitation of traditional tourism markets, cultural and historical tourism, eco tourism, and to invest and upgrade some key relic sites, including the construction of Binh Dinh Museum and another Champa Museum.
In order to advertise its tourism potential, Binh Dinh province has contacted and provided information, documents on tourism places, projects, policies to develop the sector for media. Particularly, after the Prime Minister approved the Nhon Hoi economic zone scheme, Binh Dinh province has been listed among five provinces of the central key economic zone and one key locality for tourism development of the whole region and the entire nation.
With these advantages, many investment projects in tourism have been filed and are waiting for approval: The Binh Dinh-based My Tai company is seeking a tourism site project on an area of 18 hectares in the beach Trung Luong-Cat Tien-Phu Cat; the Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Phu Thinh company is pursuing a luxury tourism site project named Four Seasons Bay Resort with an area of 146 hectares in Tan Thanh, Vinh Hoi hamlets of Cat Hai commune, Phu Cat district; the Saigon-Quy Nhon company is planning to build large-scale resort site on area of 50 hectares at the Hoi Van mineral water area, Phu Cat district.
Seeking to Overcome Regression
Tourism firms in Binh Dinh province considered that due to difficulties arising from the economic crisis the spending for tourism of enterprises will be cut but the non-business sector will remain stable or increase.
The number of private sector booking tours will also be on the rise. Thanks to forecasting the trend, the number of tours from Binh Dinh to other tourism destinations, mainly central and northern places, have increased by 10 per cent-30 per cent.
The province’s travel firms like Hai Au, Vietravel Quy Nhon, Central Tourism, Hoang Yen Tourism have organized many tours to Binh Dinh for tourists from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Although there are not official statistics, the number of tourists from other localities to Binh Dinh since the beginning of 2009 increased many times compared to previous years.
However, Binh Dinh’s tourism development has not been strong and wide to many areas in the province. The Qui Nhon city is the most attractive destination in the province, but for mainly MICE tourists. According to a preliminary report, the occupancy rate of hotels reaches only 80 per cent.
During recent years, the transport system to Binh Dinh has become clear, facilitating the tourism development. Vietnam Airlines has put into operation the Saigon-Quy Nhon route with seven flights per week, the Hanoi-Quy Nhon direct route with four flights per week. There is also a train from Quy Nhon to Saigon.
In addition, the province’s tourism environment and infrastructures for tourism have been improved. The number of hotel rooms and meeting halls has been raised on both quantity and quality to serve the visitors’ demand.
In order to help Binh Dinh province’s tourism sector take advantage of its characteristics, Mr Nguyen Pham Kien Trung, director of the Central Tourism Ltd. Co. said, the province needs to build its own orientation. Specially, the provincial authorities should join hands with conference organizers to bring tourism programs in the meeting contents. By doing that, they will help enrich the meeting contents and facilitate the province’s development of tourism.
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