Cat Ba aims to become an international tourist center

With nearly 1 million visitors in the first 5 months of 2024, the pearl of the Gulf of Tonkin continues to affirm its role as a key tourist destination of Hai Phong. But before reaching its big goal, Cat Ba needs to solve the problem of further promoting the "treasure" of valuable natural resources it possesses.

Wide open potential

Scenic spots - Special national monuments, World Biosphere Reserves, National Parks, Marine Protected Areas, Top most beautiful bays in the world voted by the Association of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World (MBBW) Club and most recently, World Natural Heritage recognized by UNESCO... These are the outstanding titles that Cat Ba archipelago - Lan Ha Bay (Hai Phong) has been awarded, bringing the name of this destination beyond the borders of Vietnam and famous around the world.

Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage in September 2023

The Sydney Morning Herald of Australia also praised the beauty of Lan Ha Bay in Cat Ba archipelago. "Lan Ha Bay appears as a wonderland on the endless water surface, including hundreds of large and small islands, bays and diverse mountain and forest ecosystems creating a fascinating and extremely majestic natural landscape," the newspaper described.

What makes the name Cat Ba so highly appreciated by the world if not for its outstanding natural values ​​of international stature. As the third largest island in Vietnam, Cat Ba and nearly 400 large and small islands surrounding it create the Cat Ba archipelago, likened to a green pearl chain in the Gulf of Tonkin. This place possesses great potential for developing high-class eco-tourism and resorts.

Accordingly, Cat Ba National Park is one of the national parks with the highest biodiversity in Vietnam. There are about 1,600 species of higher plants, 63 species of mammals, 209 species of birds, 58 species of reptiles, 401 species of insects... Among them are many rare and endemic species such as agarwood, Cat Ba langur, spotted deer, hornbill, brown-headed eagle,...

In order to fully exploit the unique strengths of Cat Ba, on December 2, 2023, the Prime Minister approved the planning of Hai Phong City for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050. It identifies the goal of building a highly attractive Cat Ba - Do Son marine tourism complex; combined with Ha Long Bay to become an international marine tourism center. It can be said that after the "boost" of World Heritage, development opportunities for Cat Ba are even more open.

The overall project for tourism development in Hai Phong city until 2025, with a vision to 2030, also identifies the need to position Cat Ba's unique value, promote its natural strengths, combine appropriate investment in infrastructure, develop sustainable green tourism associated with the exploitation and conservation of world natural heritage, and build the Cat Ba tourism brand to become a classy island paradise. These are important legal corridors to gradually shape the Cat Ba international tourism center.

Waiting for the breakout

Recent statistics show the great attraction of Cat Ba in the Northern tourism picture. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of visitors to Cat Ba has increased sharply. The number of tourists to Cat Ba in 2023 reached about 3 million, higher than the record level achieved in 2019 before the pandemic.

This attraction is further spread, if compared with neighboring coastal areas such as Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa ... Cat Ba has many outstanding advantages, aiming at the high-end tourism segment, attracting international visitors. However, in 2023, Cat Ba only welcomed more than 510 thousand international visitors, less than half of its "neighbor" Ha Long Bay, which has the same potential and is on par with the "world natural heritage" level. Obviously, Cat Ba still has a lot of room for development, if it is well planned and traffic bottlenecks are resolved, and tourism infrastructure is upgraded, Cat Ba will soon take off.

Solving the problem of upgrading tourism infrastructure will help Cat Ba take off soon.

Currently, Cat Ba has initially attracted the attention of large investors such as Sun Group, Flamingo... However, compared to other coastal tourist destinations such as Ha Long, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang... the accommodation system in Cat Ba is still very limited, lacking 5-star resort brands to meet the needs of luxury guests.

Even a beach that was originally positioned as a "budget destination" in the North, Sam Son, has undergone a spectacular transformation thanks to the joint efforts of large corporations, creating new, high-class tourism products and welcoming millions of visitors during the April 30-May 1 holiday. Therefore, if Cat Ba is only satisfied with its existing titles and strengths without making strong breakthroughs, it will be very difficult to raise the level of tourism, as well as realize the approved planning.

To develop Cat Ba tourism commensurate with its potential and towards becoming an international tourism center, according to Dr. Nguyen Hoai Nam (Hai Phong University), it is necessary to focus on upgrading and building new quality tourism facilities; focus on building high-class hotels, modern urban areas, attractive entertainment venues and creating many unique tourism products with the specific characteristics of island tourism; prioritize the development of resort tourism and ecological community tourism.

Cat Ba is proposed to be planned to become a smoke-free island.

In particular, it is necessary to have ideas to contribute and pave the way for Cat Ba to accelerate smart ecological planning in the direction of limiting emissions, environmental pollution, protecting the living environment and preserving the ecosystem of Cat Ba National Park. There are even bold plans such as building a Traffic Management Regulation on the island with the aim of not using vehicles with internal combustion engines, only using cable cars and electric vehicles as the main means of transportation on the island to pick up and drop off tourists. This is a proposal made in the Resolution on tasks and solutions for Hai Phong tourism development in 2017-2020, with a vision to 2030, with a call for participation and coordination from private investors.

The successful international expansion stories of Da Nang, Phu Quoc… thanks to attracting large investors and creating quality – classy – unique projects are valuable lessons that Cat Ba can refer to on its upcoming journey of development.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/cat-ba-truoc-muc-tieu-tro-thanh-trung-tam-du-lich-quoc-te-20240625115314311.htm