Waiting for big moves
In 2018 - 2019, the number of visitors to Cu Lao Cham skyrocketed, forcing local authorities to limit it to 3,000 visitors per day to ensure capacity.
However, over the past 5 years, the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with many problems in routes, products and services, have caused tourism to stagnate in Cu Lao Cham.
The number of visitors to Cu Lao Cham in 2024 is estimated at about 217 thousand (an average of nearly 600 visitors/day). This leads to a decline in social income from tourism here.
A social survey by authorities on 9 popular tourism-related occupations in Cu Lao Cham such as homestay, tour guide, souvenir seller, Lao tea harvester, etc. shows that the average monthly income of people is only about 30 - 60% compared to the peak period.
In most plans, Cu Lao Cham is suggested to be associated with the world heritage axis Hoi An - My Son to become a driving force to promote breakthrough tourism in Quang Nam.
The provincial planning also determined that in the future, Cu Lao Cham will become a national tourist area. Provincial leaders have repeatedly expressed the orientation that Cu Lao Cham must become a high-class destination. To materialize these things, Cu Lao Cham needs to have stronger movements soon.
At the end of 2024, Hoi An City People's Committee submitted a proposal to the province to agree on the policy of allowing Phu Quoc High-Speed Boat Joint Stock Company to research and invest in opening a waterway transport route from the shore to the island: Da Nang - Cu Lao Cham (Hoi An) - Ly Son (Quang Ngai) and vice versa (the total number of tourists to Cu Lao Cham island is not to exceed 5,000 passengers/day, including passengers from this company's ships).
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee, the government is making efforts to improve the problem of transporting tourists from the shore to the island and transferring tourists between tourist attractions on the island such as Bai Lang, Bai Ong, Bai Huong... Therefore, it is very necessary to study and open a water transport route from Da Nang - Cu Lao Cham (Hoi An) - Ly Son (Quang Ngai).
“If the province allows a 600-seat speedboat to carry passengers from Da Nang to Cu Lao Cham, Hoi An will also benefit greatly. At that time, the locality will soon upgrade Tan Hiep wharf into a large ship anchorage port.
If we only operate the route from Cua Dai with traditional means of transport as before, combined with unhealthy competition and price cuts, it will greatly affect the common interests of local tourism," said Mr. Son.
Do luxury tourism with ecotourism?
After Cu Lao Cham became a nature reserve, Hoi An City People's Committee as well as the Management Board of the reserve are speeding up the construction of a tourism development project, aiming to make Cu Lao Cham a green destination, with high-quality eco-tourism types.
In particular, focusing on determining the carrying capacity of the ecosystem to develop ecotourism in the conservation area, building a number of community ecotourism models, implementing ecotourism tours in special-use forests...
It can be seen that “ecology” is the core key to lead Cu Lao Cham towards high-end tourism.
Mr. Bui Van Tuan - Director of Hi Vooc Company Limited (Da Nang City) commented that tourism development associated with biodiversity conservation is often in the direction of organizing specialized tour programs such as: diving to see corals, watching insects, watching plants, watching birds, watching animals...
These tours are limited to a certain number of guests, usually long stays, and the tour price is also quite high compared to popular tours. Currently, Cu Lao Cham has implemented quite well the coral diving tour. With the high biodiversity in this reserve, the room for tourism development associated with biodiversity is very open.
A research result at Cu Lao Cham Nature Reserve shows that Hon Lao area (Cu Lao Cham) alone has up to 88 butterfly species.
Experts say that the richness of butterfly species on Hon Lao Island can be compared to some large islands such as Con Son (Con Dao), Cat Ba, Phu Quoc. Comparing the area and scale of Hon Lao with the other three islands, it can be seen that the diversity of butterfly species on Cu Lao Cham is quite high.
This is just one example of the potential for opening thematic tours and educational tours related to flora and fauna in this conservation area.
According to Mr. Le Ngoc Thao - Head of the Secretariat, Cu Lao Cham Nature Reserve Management Board, ecotourism is the most suitable type to meet the goal of developing livelihoods associated with conservation in the Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An biosphere reserve.
“Ecotourism is almost the only type of tourism recommended for development in protected areas, where there is a high sensitivity of natural and human ecosystems.
There, the local community with its indigenous cultural values will play a key role in the historical cultural story and they must truly become the owners of service types in tourism development in the biosphere reserve," said Mr. Thao.
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/mo-loi-du-lich-cao-cap-cho-cu-lao-cham-3150253.html
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