'Awakening' Cat Ba with eco-tourism: Opening a new 'runway' for Hai Phong tourism to take off

If implemented according to the planning and development orientation, Cat Ba will become the first model of systematic eco -tourism in Vietnam, creating a strong boost for the tourism industry of Hai Phong City, which is currently gloomy.

It's time for the "beautiful girl" to wake up

For travel enthusiasts in the past 5 years, Hai Phong's tourism brand is almost only associated with "lamppost pate". Tourists choose Hanoi and Quang Ninh to stay and visit Hai Phong to enjoy famous culinary dishes that are spread by word of mouth on social networks. Instead of mentioning a beautiful destination, tourists gradually call Hai Phong a "full" destination. People forget that Hai Phong is blessed by nature with 2 famous scenic spots, Cat Ba and Do Son, along with many historical and cultural relics and craft villages.

Cat Ba Island possesses invaluable natural assets and needs to develop sustainable, high-class ecological tourism.

Giang Linh

Located about 20 km southeast of Hai Phong city center, Do Son is known as the land of legends. This is a peninsula with a fantasy of mountains and rivers like a fairyland, a wonderful tourist resort for hundreds of years. Do Son attracts tourists with its clean air, the salty sea and the charming natural scenery. Since the 40s of the last century, writer Vu Bang wrote: "If we don't talk about vacations, then forget it, but when it comes to beach vacations, Do Son appears in our minds first. Why? That's because Do Son is the first beach in Bac Ky or, in other words, the reason why Bac Ky people know how to go to the beach like Europeans and Americans is because of Do Son". Especially, the Do Son buffalo fighting festival is famous throughout the North and the South, attracting tens of thousands of people to attend every year.

However, after a long period of unplanned development, Do Son has gradually lost its breath in the race with other destinations in the north. The accommodation coefficient of Do Son is very low, meaning that visitors only come here for a very short period of time, not enough to create added value. The biggest difficulty is that with such fragmented planning, Do Son has almost no land left to attract investment to carry out projects.

Do Son's lack of momentum also causes Hai Phong tourism to "fall behind". While its "next-door neighbor" Quang Ninh has set a target of welcoming 17 million visitors this year, Hai Phong has yet to reach 10 million tourists/year. By the end of 2023, the number of tourists to Hai Phong will be only half that of Quang Ninh.

Looking back at the golden age and rare advantages, tourism experts say it is time for Hai Phong to shake up the tourism industry, find the golden age for Do Son and especially awaken the "beautiful girl" Cat Ba.

When visiting and working in Cat Hai district in 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang expressed his surprise and emotion at the wild and charming beauty of Cat Hai and Cat Ba. The Deputy Prime Minister sent a message to the Party Committee, government, army and people that Cat Hai is a beautiful pearl island that few localities have. The potential is enormous and if exploited and promoted, Cat Ba island will certainly bring values ​​​​far beyond expectations. With the event that Cat Ba archipelago and Ha Long Bay are recognized by UNESCO as World Natural Heritage, Hai Phong tourism will have more conditions and great opportunities to take off.

The first car-free island in Vietnam

The adjustment of the Master Plan of Hai Phong City to 2040, with a vision to 2050, approved by the Prime Minister in 2023, has outlined the basic steps for Hai Phong tourism. Accordingly, the tourism network plan to 2030 is capable of serving 30 - 35 million visitors; by 2040, about 35 - 40 million visitors. The plan also specifies a number of priority investment programs for tourism development. Specifically, building Cat Ba and Do Son into international tourism centers, with modern facilities, rich, diverse, distinct tourism products, high quality, branded and prestigious, meeting the needs of domestic and international tourists. At the same time, priority is given to the implementation of the project to build the Cat Hai - Cat Ba cable car line, a number of entertainment projects, international standard resorts, and environmental protection projects in tourist areas according to the plan.

Notably, Hai Phong City plans to stop operating and replace vehicles using gasoline and diesel with vehicles using clean, environmentally friendly fuel on Cat Ba Island. This plan was actually conceived nearly a decade ago.

Back in 2016, a survey team of architectural landscape planning experts from WATG, the world's leading design consultancy, came to Cat Ba and came up with an impressive plan. The first was to re-plan the transportation system in the Cat Hai island area - a satellite for Cat Ba and the internal island traffic in an ecological direction. There will be public beaches here, giving the local community and tourists the opportunity to immerse themselves in the sea. At the same time, there will be entertainment areas to elevate Cat Ba tourism to a higher level...

"In the future, Cat Ba can aim to become a smart, environmentally friendly destination. There will be no more car and motorbike exhaust fumes on the island. Electric car systems, public transport using solar energy, electricity or waterways will keep the air clean and fresh, true to the island climate and jungle that Cat Ba possesses," WATG's survey team suggested.

Supporting the eco-tourism development strategy, saying "no" to vehicle exhaust that Hai Phong City is orienting for Cat Ba, Mr. Pham Ha, Chairman and CEO of Lux Group, analyzed: Cat Ba is currently almost the remaining rough gem of Vietnam and has been recognized as a world heritage. This place has a history of geological formation and development from about 18,000 years ago, currently preserving traces associated with 77 archaeological sites, typically Cai Beo Site (Cat Ba Town). The long-term formation process has contributed to creating biodiversity, rich natural resources as well as the unique cultural identity of the "pearl island".

Marine ecosystems, terrestrial forest ecosystems, mangrove ecosystems, along with extremely rich and rare flora and fauna... In the context of the green tourism and green development trend that is growing strongly around the world, this is an extremely valuable tourism resource. With a not too large area, Cat Ba should target high-end tourists instead of mass tourists, which will lead to overload, water shortages, and waste of resources. In the world, there are many islands with similar potential, planned towards green, clean, beautiful, and sustainable development.

"If it can be implemented according to the plan, Cat Ba Island will not only help Hai Phong in particular and Vietnam in general increase the competitiveness of the destination on the world tourism map but also create an ideal place for domestic people to come to relax, explore, and immerse themselves in nature," Mr. Pham Ha emphasized.

Hai Phong City should clearly orient who will be the target tourists that Cat Ba is aiming for, from there develop tourism strategically, plan specific policies from infrastructure to accommodation facilities, products, experiences... It is necessary to closely follow the planning and be selective to choose truly "green" investment sources, true ecological projects, not "chop" up projects to create opportunities for units "labeled" as ecological development to occupy land and develop real estate.

Mr. Pham Ha , Chairman and CEO of Lux Group

Ha Mai

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