Sports "meeting place" - Quang Binh Electronic Newspaper

CELEBRATING THE 79TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRADITIONAL DAY OF VIETNAM'S SPORTS INDUSTRY (March 27, 1946 - March 27, 2025)

(QBĐT) - Possessing diverse terrain and thorough investment, Quang Binh is emerging as an attractive destination for large-scale sports tournaments. Not only contributing to raising the level of the sports movement, becoming a "meeting place" for large playgrounds also opens up a "golden" opportunity for Quang Binh to promote its image, boost tourism and local economy.

Realizing potential

In early March 2025, the Quang Binh Discovery Marathon held in Phong Nha town (Bo Trach) attracted more than 1,300 athletes, including many foreigners. This is the 5th time this race has been held in Quang Binh, becoming a branded sporting event associated with the heritage land of Phong Nha-Ke Bang. Along with the Quang Binh Discovery Marathon, many regional and national sports tournaments have chosen Quang Binh as the venue, thereby bringing good impressions to a large number of athletes.

With its special terrain, from sea, forest to plain, Quang Binh is a locality with many favorable conditions to organize many different sports. Long beaches, cool rivers or majestic mountain ranges... are not only beautiful natural landscapes but also ideal conditions to organize beach sports, boat racing, long-distance swimming or marathons to explore nature.

Quang Binh Discovery Marathon 2025 attracts the participation of more than 1,300 athletes.

In 2025, in addition to the Quang Binh Discovery Marathon, the Central Highlands-Central region Karate National Championship that has just been held, Quang Binh will be the host of a series of important tournaments, such as: National Beach Petanque Championship, Central Highlands-Central region Table Tennis Championship, National Long Distance Swimming Championship, Quang Binh International Marathon. In particular, after a 10-year interruption, this year, the National Long Distance Swimming Championship will officially be held again. This is an annual tournament with a history of more than 40 years. Quang Binh is focusing all resources to organize successful tournaments, thereby aiming to build a professional sports environment, harmoniously combining grassroots sports and high-performance sports.

Golden opportunity for tourism

Participating in the Quang Binh Discovery Marathon 2025, Katie Carter, an athlete from the UK, shared: “During my trip to Vietnam, when I received information about the race taking place in Quang Binh, I immediately registered to participate. This is both an opportunity to test myself and a chance to explore Phong Nha-Ke Bang. The natural landscape and the friendliness of the people here have made me truly love this land. If I have the chance, I will definitely return to Phong Nha again.”

Many athletes have chosen to participate in sports tournaments combined with traveling and experiencing new lands. The 2024 National Traditional Boat Racing Tournament has the participation of 10 teams from provinces and cities across the country. Going beyond the framework of a sports tournament, the tournament is also an opportunity to promote the potential and strengths of Quang Binh tourism as well as the values ​​of biodiversity, natural landscapes, and tourism products. In addition to the days of competition and training on the Nhat Le River, more than 400 athletes, members of the Organizing Committee, and coaches of the delegations had the opportunity to explore and admire the beauty of Quang Binh land, and experience the lives of people on both banks of the Nhat Le River.

The 2025 Central Highlands National Karate Championship will be held in Quang Binh.

Organizing sports tournaments is not only meaningful in terms of expertise but also a "golden" opportunity to promote the image of Quang Binh, promote tourism and stimulate the local economy. Destinations and tourism service establishments also attract more tourists. Each sports tournament held in Quang Binh contributes to bringing the province's image closer to domestic and international friends. When athletes and fans come here to compete and experience, they will have the opportunity to explore the nature, culture and local cuisine, thereby creating a strong spreading promotional effect. If taking advantage of this advantage, Quang Binh can turn sports into a typical tourism product, contributing to diversifying tourism types, extending the length of stay and increasing tourists' spending.

Branding

The reality of organizing many major tournaments shows that, despite many advantages, in order for Quang Binh to become a sports “dating place”, there are still many issues worth paying attention to. Sports infrastructure has not yet fully met the standards of major tournaments. There is a lack of large-scale stadiums and gymnasiums, and some projects still need to be upgraded to meet national and international standards. In particular, beach or adventure sports tournaments need suitable facilities, along with better logistics services to ensure competition quality.

“I am really impressed with the professionalism of the Organizing Committee as well as the enthusiastic cheering of the Quang Binh audience for the 2025 Central Highlands National Karate Championship. The organization, facilities, and accommodation conditions... are all carefully prepared. Hopefully, through this tournament, the high-performance Karate training and sports movement in Quang Binh will have a remarkable development”, Mr. Vu Son Ha, Head of Karate Department, Vietnam Sports Department, President of the Southeast Asian Karate Federation expressed.

In addition, the organization is still seasonal, there is no long-term strategy to develop sports into a sustainable brand. Meanwhile, building a series of annual sports events will help attract more attention from athletes and fans. To ensure the success of the tournaments, Chairman of the Quang Binh Karate Federation Pham Sac Long emphasized the important role of attention from provincial leaders. "We hope to receive guidance and support in organizing, ensuring standard competition facilities, mobilizing funding sources as well as widely promoting the tournament. If there is a long-term strategy, Karate can completely become one of the strengths of Quang Binh, contributing to the national sports achievements," Mr. Long shared.

Faced with the opportunities and challenges, Quang Binh needs to implement long-term plans to make sports one of the local strengths. In addition to organizing tournaments, the province needs to promote communication work, build a professional image and attract sponsors. Linking with international sports event organizers and promoting on online platforms is also a way to bring the Quang Binh sports brand to the world. If there is synchronous investment, from infrastructure, organization to long-term strategy, not only current tournaments but also many larger sporting events will continue to choose Quang Binh as a destination, contributing to economic development, tourism and improving the cultural and sporting life of local people.

Dieu Huong

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/the-thao/202503/ky-niem-79-nam-ngay-truyen-thong-nganh-the-duc-the-thao-viet-nam-2731946-2732025-diem-hen-the-thao-2225207/