Developing tourism in Mong Cai border area

With special advantages in terms of geographical location, landscape, and history, the border city of Mong Cai is always an attractive destination for tourists. In recent years, along with the improvement of transport infrastructure and tourism infrastructure, Mong Cai has made strong changes, promoting its potential advantages, becoming an attractive destination on the Vietnamese tourism map.

Mong Cai International Border Gate is bustling on weekends.

Along with the return of the Chinese tourist market to Vietnam, Mong Cai also welcomed many tourists from this market to visit and experience. In the first 6 months of this year, the total number of entries and exits through Mong Cai International Border Gate and Bac Luan II Border Gate reached over 3.5 million, of which over 862,000 were Chinese visitors. To attract tourists, the city has proactively improved the quality of existing tourism products and built new tourism products to meet the needs and tastes of Chinese tourists such as Chinese culinary tourism products, golf tourism, etc. Ms. Chen Hui (a Chinese tourist) said: "My family planned to travel to Mong Cai, Ha Long of Quang Ninh many months ago. The customs clearance procedures at the border gate were also very quick and convenient."

In addition to the Chinese tourist market, thanks to convenient transportation infrastructure, the number of domestic tourists to Mong Cai has increased rapidly. Especially this year, when airfares are high, short-distance travel and self-travel have become a trend, many tourists from Hanoi, Hai Phong, as well as the northern provinces have chosen the border city. Famous destinations in Mong Cai from Sa Vi cape, Tra Co beach, cultural and spiritual destinations with local cultural characteristics are also crowded with tourists, especially on weekends.

Famous tourist destinations in Mong Cai city are always crowded with tourists.

To achieve these results, from the first months of 2024, Mong Cai City has directed to focus on maximizing the city's potential, advantages, and tourism resources, diversifying new tourism products, bringing unique values to the culture, land, and people of Mong Cai, such as: Walking street, culinary street, Hai Son - Bac Son experiential tourism, Tra Co - Binh Ngoc - Vinh Thuc - Vinh Trung resort, self-driving tourist cars across the border, experiencing community tourism and fishermen's lives in island communes... City levels and sectors have also proactively carried out the work of preserving, promoting, and enhancing the value of cultural heritages associated with tourism development in the area. At the same time, successfully organized 4 ceremonies to announce the decision and receive the certificate of ranking as special national, national, and provincial-level relics; 5 traditional temple and communal house festivals...

The city also attaches importance to ensuring a favorable business environment for tourism, tightening state management of tourism services. In the first 6 months of the year, the city's functional branches inspected and administratively sanctioned 70 tourism businesses, collecting over 1.9 billion VND in state budget. This has created a ripple effect among those working in tourism in strictly complying with the law while doing business.

Mr. Tran Van Lang (a trader at Mong Cai Central Market) shared: Tourism has developed, and trading activities at the market have also improved a lot. Traders have also raised their awareness and responsibility in preserving the image of Mong Cai tourism and committed to strictly complying with regulations on goods, selling good quality goods, posting prices publicly, and selling at the correct listed prices.

Officials of functional agencies inspect business activities of an establishment in Tran Phu ward (Mong Cai city).

According to statistics, in the first 6 months of 2024, the total number of tourists to Mong Cai reached over 2 million, an increase of 91% over the same period in 2023, contributing to the state budget on tourism services is estimated at over 140 billion VND, making an important contribution to the overall positive results of the Quang Ninh tourism industry.

In the coming time, the city will continue to focus on developing new and unique tourism products associated with the cultural values of people in the border area; closely coordinate with the Department of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism of Dongxing City (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China) in managing and developing border tourism activities; actively coordinate in organizing cultural, sports and tourism exchange activities; continue to communicate and digitalize tourism; proactively implement the pilot project to develop the night-time economy in the area.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Huong, Vice Chairman of Mong Cai City People's Committee, affirmed: The city strengthens state management to ensure a healthy tourism business environment, with many specific solutions, especially maintaining a tourism hotline to promptly receive feedback, propose relevant units to resolve and provide information to respond to people and tourists; strengthen guidance, appraisal, and licensing of tourism standards; publicly announce the list of reputable tourism businesses; violating units, resolutely not allowing units that do not ensure business conditions to affect the brand and image of Mong Cai tourism in particular and Quang Ninh in general. In addition, local authorities tighten inspection, promptly rectify and strictly handle violations of security and order, prices, goods, tax collection, labor management, travel activities, accommodation, shopping, food and beverage, food safety and hygiene, environmental sanitation, urban order, begging, and stalking of guests; Regularly check and review infrastructure and human resource quality at tourism service establishments.

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