In recent years, Quang Ninh has been one of the localities that has always been exploring and innovating in thinking, new ways of doing things, creativity and breakthrough decisions and actions contributing to socio-economic development. However, Quang Ninh is also facing the challenge of finding new development momentum in the context of our country's deep economic integration, many localities in the country have had spectacular breakthrough developments. In order to affirm its position as "a growth pole of the Northern region, a dynamic and comprehensive development center, an international tourism center, a marine economic center, a gateway to the key economic region of the North and the whole country"; promoting the development of heritage economy is considered a right direction contributing to affirming and enhancing the value of local brands; helping Quang Ninh prepare a steady and confident mindset to enter a new era - the era of national development.
Quang Ninh - Land of Cultural Heritage; preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage has made important contributions to the socio-economic development of the province throughout the journey of Doi Moi.
Quang Ninh is a land rich in cultural heritage with 630 relics, including 08 special national relics (ranked second in the country, after the capital Hanoi) , 56 national relics, 101 provincial relics and more than 400 relics have been inventoried; 362 intangible cultural heritages (including 15 national intangible cultural heritages) . Most notably, Quang Ninh is the province that owns the world's leading natural heritage, which is Ha Long Bay, which has been honored by UNESCO three times and is currently preparing to have another world cultural heritage of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist Zen sect dating back to the Tran Dynasty, which has entered the heroic history of the nation (the complex of relics and scenic spots of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac) . These are the heritages that have created the brand of Quang Ninh province in the process of international economic integration. The diversity of heritage in Quang Ninh province reflects the cultural identity of the Northeastern region of the country, but the most profound are the traditional cultural features of the residents mixed from many localities in the Red River Delta who settled down over many generations, creating the people of Quang Ninh today with an open, generous, hard-working mindset and lifestyle, constantly striving to improve with the characteristics of "Courage, Self-reliance, Discipline, Solidarity, Affection, Generosity, Creativity, Civilization" . Along with that, the factor of "beautiful nature" is also the pillar to create the cultural heritage of the sea and islands of the Northeastern region, appearing very early in the history of national culture (with the cultural sites of Ha Long, Cai Beo, Soi Nhu) , until now still has its own vitality, persistent, although it is undergoing a process of assimilation, adapting to new development conditions. The uniqueness and diversity of the culture and people of Quang Ninh are also reflected in the cultural heritage of the indigenous ethnic minority communities in the border areas (Tay, Dao, San Chi, etc.) . In recent years, the cultural heritages of the ethnic communities living together across Quang Ninh province have always been given attention and have promoted their precious values in the cultural heritage treasure of Quang Ninh province (especially intangible cultural heritages such as: Then practice of the Tay, Nung, Thai; Hat nha to hat - dance at the communal house; Cua Ong Temple Festival; Tien Cong Festival; Tra Co Communal House Festival; Bach Dang Festival; Soong co folk performance art of the San Chi people; Soong co folk performance art of the San Diu people; Wind abstinence custom of the Dao people; Cap sac ceremony of the Thanh Y Dao people; New rice celebration ceremony of the Tay people, etc.) .
After our Party carried out the Doi Moi (1986), Quang Ninh's cultural heritage has been exploited to contribute to the socio-economic development of the whole province. In the Northern region, along with major cities such as Hanoi and Hai Phong, Quang Ninh is one of the localities that has taken the lead in developing tourism and service industries based on exploiting the value of natural heritage resources. Transforming the development method from "brown" to "green" in a sustainable direction, based on three pillars: nature - culture - people, culture combined with taking advantage of the trend of peace, cooperation and integration has become the motto of the Party Committee and the government of Quang Ninh province for many terms. Besides exploiting natural tourism resources; Investment in the restoration and embellishment of relics from the state budget combined with social resources for historical and cultural relics has also contributed significantly to creating new attractive tourist destinations and routes (Dong Trieu, Quang Yen, Uong Bi, Ha Long, Mong Cai) . Thanks to these efforts, the number of tourists coming to Quang Ninh has grown steadily in recent years. In the period 2011 - 2019, the compound growth rate of tourists to Quang Ninh annually reached about 10.2%/year; of which international visitors reached 17.9%/year, domestic visitors reached 8.2%/year. After the Covid-19 pandemic, Quang Ninh's tourism industry has made a strong recovery . In 2024, Quang Ninh attracted 19 million visitors, including 3.5 million international visitors, with total tourism revenue estimated at VND 46,460 billion, up 38% over the same period. The One Commune, One Product (OCOP) program contributes to the formation of unique and attractive cultural tourism products with over 500 products, of which 393 products are rated from 3 to 5 stars, posted on e-commerce platforms... serving the needs of the people and tourists.
Heritage economy - Limitations, challenges and development opportunities of Quang Ninh province in the current context
In addition to the great achievements in managing and exploiting heritage values, in recent times, it can be seen that Quang Ninh still has many limitations, which are: (i1) The situation of continuous "raw" exploitation of existing natural heritage values for decades; (i2) The conversion of traditional livelihood methods still lacks selection, conservation, and reasonable promotion of typical heritage values in a number of traditional industries and fields of Quang Ninh (such as many industrial heritages of the Coal industry during the French colonial period no longer exist; fishing and sea farming using traditional manual methods and means have almost completely disappeared; some spiritual tourist destinations, although having great appeal, still show signs of "distortion" or "cultural deviation" in recent times); (i3) Traditional lifestyles, customs, and practices have also changed a lot due to the rapid urbanization rate; (i4) Cultural management thinking after many decades of "Innovation" is still heavily dependent on the state budget (mainly local budget) ; (i5) The system of standards and technical regulations for the preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of relics, architecture and art is still lacking and not suitable for the actual conditions of Quang Ninh province (especially for medieval heritages dating back too far, from the Ly and Tran dynasties); (i6) Heritage managers lack in-depth knowledge of history, culture and heritage management while heritage records lack adequate scientific basis...
In fact, in the current context, Quang Ninh is facing many challenges on the path of developing the heritage economy, which are: (i1) There are not many attractive mechanisms and policies to promote and attract strong investment and enhance the social responsibility of enterprises and communities towards heritage resources; administrative procedures related to the management and exploitation of heritage are slow to be amended and completed in a timely manner, creating institutional bottlenecks (such as procedures in the fields of land use planning management, environment, marine and island resources, forestry, construction investment, public-private partnership, etc.); (i2) The need to preserve and promote the value of cultural heritages in Quang Ninh province, although integrated into the general development plans at the provincial and district levels (currently planned to 2030, with a vision to 2050) , the establishment of these plans has not considered the heritage system according to the typical geo-cultural spatial structures as in some major cultural and tourist centers, thus making it difficult to connect infrastructure in the fields of transportation, urban infrastructure, and night-time economic development in many localities in the province. (i3) The lack of new and unique tourism products to meet the needs of developing four-season tourism has reduced the attractiveness of the tourism and service economy, especially for the needs of international tourists with large spending levels from potential markets such as Japan, Korea, and North America. (i4) Cultural industry associated with promoting the advantages of local heritage has not developed as strongly as in some other provinces and cities in recent times (such as lack of movies, reality TV shows, elite art performances combining tradition and modernity...) . (i5) Tourism infrastructure is not commensurate with the potential of natural heritages in the area (no hotels, resorts, restaurants have been included in the top regional and world awards like in Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang...) . (i6) Heritage economic development requires that from the government apparatus at all levels to all classes and communities, there must be awareness and action to protect and promote heritage values; have the ability to cooperate and closely link with each other in commercial activities, tourism services related to heritage; labor in the tourism and service industries is still seasonal...
In the context of world tourism centers, regions and many localities in the country have been making great strides compared to before thanks to knowing how to combine and promote new growth drivers, the above challenges and limitations are significant obstacles to the strong development of the heritage economy based on turning the unique and diverse cultural heritage potential of this land into assets, new driving forces, not only contributing to maintaining a fast and sustainable growth rate but also truly enhancing the brand value of Quang Ninh province, one of the world's leading tourist destinations, one of the places with the best quality of life in Vietnam when Quang Ninh is determined to become a centrally-governed city by 2030.
In the 2020 - 2025 term, Quang Ninh also faces great opportunities to develop the heritage economy. First of all, it is necessary to mention the aspiration to continue to innovate and rise up and the political determination of the Party Committee and the government of Quang Ninh province to create a breakthrough in development. The Provincial People's Committee has submitted to the Prime Minister Decision No. 80/QD-TTg approving the Planning of Quang Ninh province for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, which identifies Quang Ninh as "an international tourism center, a marine economic center, a gateway to the Northern Key Economic Region...". The Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee has issued Resolution No. 17-NQ/TU dated October 30, 2023 on building and promoting the cultural values and human strength of Quang Ninh to become an endogenous resource, a driving force for rapid and sustainable development; which has proposed a number of specific goals, tasks and solutions to 2030 associated with the heritage economy sector. Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee has coordinated with the Communist Magazine and the Central Theoretical Council to organize 02 scientific seminars; contributing important scientific basis for participating with the Party's advisory agencies at the Central level to summarize a number of theoretical and practical issues after 40 years of implementing the Doi Moi policy in the direction of socialism. In particular, the issue of promoting the development of heritage economy as a new growth driver for Quang Ninh province has been proposed, researched and oriented to be included in the documents of the 16th Provincial Party Congress, term 2025 - 2030.
Especially now, our Party is promoting institutional reform, including many institutional contents related to untying the development of the heritage economy. General Secretary To Lam clearly pointed out: "Of the three biggest bottlenecks today, which are institutions, infrastructure and human resources, institutions are the bottleneck of bottlenecks" . As a province with strengths in natural heritage, in recent years, Quang Ninh has faced many difficulties and pressure from public opinion in the issue of adjusting the planning space of the world natural landscape of Ha Long Bay while reality shows that without breakthrough decisions on infrastructure development, there cannot be new, modern works that meet the needs of modernization in recent times. The modern road - air - waterway system is of international standards, such as: Van Don International Airport, Ha Long International Passenger Port - the only specialized seaport serving tourism in Vietnam at present.
The development of heritage economy in the province at present also has many advantages if we know how to welcome new development trends such as digital transformation, green transformation, clean energy transformation and have a strategy to promote the application of advanced scientific and technological achievements in creating high-value cultural industrial products based on heritage.
Proposing some groups of solutions for developing the heritage economy of Quang Ninh province in the coming time
In the coming time, in order for Quang Ninh's heritage economy to truly take off, it is necessary to study and synchronously implement the following main groups of solutions:
Firstly, it is necessary to continue reviewing and innovating the planning of cultural tourism infrastructure, especially the planning of spiritual tourism routes, cultural and historical experience tourism combined with high-class resort tourism in the direction of enhancing regional connectivity. In particular, it is necessary to pay special attention to the approach to the geo-cultural structural model to integrate into the development planning, associated with promoting the value of medieval cultural heritages along the axis: Van Don (where Van Don Commercial Port was established in 1147) - Ha Long (where there are relics of Xich Tho ancient citadel, Bai Tho mountain and a system of caves and grottoes with traces of ancient people) - Uong Bi (where there is An Hung headquarters established in 1149 and the Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist relic system) - Dong Trieu (where there is a relatively dense system of relics such as Tran Dynasty Temple, Ngoa Van Am, Ho Thien, Quynh Lam Pagoda...). At the same time, planning cultural tourism according to the heritage route as above also helps promote investment and exploit more effectively the transport infrastructure that has been and will be invested (international passenger ports, airports, highways, sightseeing stops, etc.) . For some heritage areas with potential for night-time economic development, it is necessary to pay attention to combining both geographical - cultural and geographical - economic factors in development planning because once it is not linked to the regular livelihood activities of local people, it cannot be successful. Strengthening the investment method in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) to modernize and improve the quality of economic - technical infrastructure in areas expected to be put into operation. Not only promoting and mobilizing people's participation in urban beautification and "mechanically" learning from the experiences of other localities because each locality must have its own way of doing things, creatively linked to the typical values of the heritage.
Second, it is necessary to promote the modernization of heritage management tools, the application of technology (such as artificial intelligence (AI) technology introduced into the museum system, heritage restoration using 3D technology, etc.) . Continue to update and digitize heritage records on the basis of effectively exploiting newly discovered domestic and international sources that have been collected and disseminated. Enriching cultural heritage records will contribute to enhancing the value of heritage and helping to educate and disseminate cultural and historical knowledge associated with heritage in a more authentic way. On the other hand, it will contribute to protecting the Party's ideological foundation in the new situation, fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints that deliberately distort and misrepresent history.
Third, it is necessary to strengthen the development of mechanisms and policies to promote the connection between the development of cultural industries (especially in the fields of cultural tourism, cinema, music, fashion, cuisine, and media arts) and the work of preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage, in which attention should be paid to promoting socialization (funding and investment) for creative activities related to: film industry, reality television to explore heritage, performing arts (staging plays, operas, and live performances depicting historical periods and events) and comprehensive cultural events associated with heritage (organizing film festivals, traditional art festivals, or restoration to enrich the content of traditional festivals, etc.) . Focus on implementing the development of cultural industries associated with piloting the model of cultural and creative industrial complexes with synchronous infrastructure in Ha Long city. This model allows the integration of resources to develop cultural industrial products, in which it is necessary to orient towards cultural industrial products with high content of indigenous cultural heritage values and Vietnamese cultural heritage that can spread and be "exported" to the world market in the context of strong international integration.
Fourth , there is a need for solutions to build a more distinctive and outstanding Quang Ninh cultural heritage brand (such as having new logos and slogans) and constantly innovate cultural heritage marketing strategies suitable for the global network interaction environment. This is also a direction that experts are recommending. Continue to develop diverse, unique, highly competitive tourism products, especially high-end resort tourism products associated with promoting the natural, human and cultural values of Quang Ninh.
Fifth , it is necessary to increase investment resources and promote investment attraction to renovate and upgrade cultural works and tourist facilities associated with promoting traditional tangible and intangible cultural values, imbued with national identity, with a mark in the national historical process (such as the experience of attracting investment in Yen Tu relic and scenic area associated with the cultural and architectural imprint of Buddhism during the Tran Dynasty; in which the Legacy Yen Tu project stands out) in a number of areas with tourism potential and strengths in mountainous and island areas to diversify tourism products ( sea tourism, eco-tourism, unique and high-class resort tourism ). suitable for different tourist segments, especially paying attention to groups of tourists with high spending. For large-scale cultural works, international-class tourist facilities need to create conditions for large enterprises to participate in investment.
Sixth, pay attention to training human resources to serve the development of the heritage economy. Pay attention to sending teams working in cultural and tourism management, tour guides to participate in training courses, fostering in-depth expertise in the fields of heritage, culture, archaeology, heritage theory, heritage practice, history, law, foreign languages, etc. to meet the requirements in the new situation. Expand cooperation, invite international experts to exchange experiences, transfer technology in the field of heritage conservation, develop cultural industries, train high-quality human resources in the cultural field associated with digital transformation. Strengthen links, train human resources associated with training needs (between localities and training institutions, travel agencies, labor service providers in the tourism sector, etc.) in response to the requirements of forming a number of new economic sectors.
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Heritage economy is an opportunity for Quang Ninh to transform heritage resources into a driving force for development. If there is the right direction and solution, it will help Quang Ninh continue to maintain its leading position and maintain a sustainable growth rate. What Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Ninh Binh and many other localities have done, Quang Ninh can absolutely do better to make the heritage economy a creative economy. Bringing the quintessential values of Vietnamese culture to a new level, standing shoulder to shoulder with other human civilizations in the new era, the era of national development.
Dr. Dang Xuan Phuong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Quang Ninh Province
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