The Southeast region has a 350 km long coastline and many beautiful beaches such as Vung Tau, Long Hai, Con Dao, Can Gio... This area also has many ecotourism resources associated with national parks, biosphere reserves, conservation areas, mangrove forests, mountain landscapes and river and lake ecosystems.
Waiting for a "boost" in tourism linkage
With these advantages, Ho Chi Minh City initiated and connected with 5 provinces in the region - including: Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc - and signed the "Agreement on cooperation in tourism development in the Southeast region for the period 2020-2025". Every year, the review conference is held in rotation in a province or city in the region to evaluate the effectiveness, draw lessons and promptly adjust and supplement the cooperation content.
Tay Ninh is an emerging locality on the tourism map of the Southeast region and the whole country. Mr. Vo Duc Trong, Permanent Vice Chairman of Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee, said that in the first 9 months of 2023 alone, the locality attracted about 4.5 million visitors with total tourism revenue approaching VND 1,800 billion.
Ba Den Mountain Historical, Cultural and Tourist Site welcomes over 4 million visitors each year
Tay Ninh identifies tourism as one of the key economic sectors for socio-economic development until 2025 and orientation to 2030. In the coming time, the Ba Den Mountain Historical, Cultural and Scenic Relic and Tourism Site will be the key investment focus, creating a driving force for the province's tourism.
The total number of tourists to the Southeast region in the 2020-2022 period reached over 73.53 million, including nearly 3.1 million international visitors; revenue of VND 260,160 billion.
According to Ms. Tran Tue Hien, Chairwoman of Binh Phuoc Provincial People's Committee, the province especially prioritizes maximum socialization to invest in tourism development as well as promulgating appropriate mechanisms and policies to attract investment. However, in order for Binh Phuoc tourism to "take off" in the overall development of the region, many synchronous solutions need to be implemented.
"We continue to propose to the Central Government and proactively coordinate with localities to deploy the construction of a transport system connecting the Southeast region, creating a synchronous "push" in linking regional tourism development," Ms. Hien emphasized.
Developing tourism goes hand in hand with the night economy
Most tourists coming to Tay Ninh or Binh Phuoc are interested in spiritual and cultural tourism products. These localities still lack night-time economic activities such as night markets, entertainment areas, large-scale, modern cultural and artistic performances... Tourists stay for a short time and spend little, so tourism revenue is not commensurate with the potential and advantages.
Affirming the role of the night economy, Mr. Pham Ngoc Hai, Chairman of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Tourism Association, said that the province needs to develop a synchronous night economy in the three areas of Vung Tau, Phuoc Hai and Ho Tram so that tourists can shop for typical products and enjoy regional specialties.
According to Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, regional tourism linkage is very difficult and almost no place has succeeded. However, the Southeast region has many advantages that few places can match. Another important advantage is that the Politburo has just issued Resolution 24 on socio-economic development of the Southeast region, with Ho Chi Minh City leading the way. Therefore, the possibility of successful tourism development linkage is very high.
The resonance of local strengths needs to be focused on, with hard work and determination to do tourism. Each province and city needs to position its strengths, not overlap but need to have a smooth coordination mechanism, especially "cherishing businesses". "There is no field that needs to cherish businesses so that they can help us develop like the tourism industry" - Mr. Tran Dinh Thien acknowledged.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien said that not all provinces and cities have the same starting point for tourism. For example, Ho Chi Minh City has a developed night-time economy, but in the remaining provinces, the majority of people still prefer to "go to bed early and wake up early" while tourism is "stay up late and wake up late". To develop tourism, each locality must know its own circumstances and conditions and place the tourism industry in the race of the whole region, the whole country and even the world, not just the race of its own province or city.
Ms. HUYNH PHAN PHUONG HOANG , Deputy General Director of Vietravel Tourism Company:
Need a "conductor" to build an overall strategy
Tourism linkage between Ho Chi Minh City and the Southeast provinces has been implemented in recent times, but there is a lack of connectivity to implement together, "assigning" tasks to each locality and each related unit to create suitable and attractive tourism products.
There needs to be a “conductor” to build an overall strategy in this linkage to create specific, consistent product packages. Each locality in the linkage chain needs to identify who the target tourists are, specifically which market, what segment… then have products with competitive prices to promote, introduce and attract tourists. If businesses are left to “swim on their own”, it will be very difficult to have a breakthrough for tourism in the whole region.
Mr. NGUYEN MINH MAN , Director of Communications and Marketing - TSTtourist Travel Company:
Link for more professional products
Since the regional connection between Ho Chi Minh City and the Southeast provinces was implemented, the localities have made many breakthroughs.
Among them, Tay Ninh has emerged as a locality with many new tourism products, creating a highlight to attract visitors. Tay Ninh's initiative in exploiting tourist sources, especially the Ho Chi Minh City market, has brought certain efficiency in terms of the number of visitors, thereby reinvesting in tourism products here. Meanwhile, the connection of the sea ferry from Can Gio to Ba Ria - Vung Tau has not been properly promoted and promoted despite its great potential, which needs to be promoted...
The above evidence shows that local initiative in linkage will create leverage for tourism development.
Thai Phuong
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