In mid-September 2023, Quang Tri province organized the 2023 Tourism Caravan Program with the theme "Quang Tri Colors" and the Quang Tri (Vietnam) - Laos - Thailand Tourism Connection Workshop. This practical and specific activity aims to introduce tourism products, tours, routes and sign agreements to enhance tourism cooperation, exchange tours and routes between the Quang Tri tourism industry and travel and tourism companies from Laos and the northeastern provinces of Thailand as well as to maximize the potential and advantages of the East-West Economic Corridor.
Open tourism direction from Laos, Thailand
The Caravan program has the participation of more than 80 units, including nearly 40 guests from typical travel agencies and businesses of Laos and Thailand.
Caravan is a tour chosen by many Thai tourists - Photo: D.V
The organizing committee supported the delegations to visit and survey destinations that bear the mark and color of Quang Tri such as: La Vang Pilgrimage Center - the largest pilgrimage center for Catholics in Vietnam. This is also a Quang Tri tourist destination that attracts many domestic and foreign tourists.
The delegation also participated in the night tour program "Visiting Quang Tri Ancient Citadel and paying tribute to heroic martyrs at the flower lantern release wharf on Thach Han River".
This program made an impression on international tourists, many of whom felt excited to visit and tour the Ancient Citadel at night for the first time.
During the program, the delegation continued to visit a number of historical sites in the province such as: Hien Luong - Ben Hai special national historical site; Vinh Moc tunnel special national historical site and Gio An ancient well system.
In addition, during the series of activities, many members of the delegation experienced and took souvenir photos at Fidel Park, Dakrong suspension bridge, Lao Bao international border gate, Cua Viet beach tourism service area, visited flower gardens and wind power projects in Huong Hoa district.
At the workshop that followed, in order to move towards tourism development cooperation between Quang Tri (Vietnam) and localities of Laos and Thailand, the Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion; Quang Tri Province Tourism Association signed a memorandum of understanding to promote and link tours with the Northeast Thailand Tourism, Trade and Industry Association (ITITA) and the Savannakhet Province Travel Association.
This program has received the attention of many Lao and Thai businesses who want to learn about the history and culture, eco-tourism in the province, especially sea tourism.
At the workshop, representatives of the Quang Tri Tourism Association shared and introduced the potential and strengths of destinations in the province, especially introducing some sample tour programs "Experience Quang Tri Sea" on the weekend or "3 days 2 nights tour program" to inform, promote and connect with Lao and Thai businesses to attract visitors to stimulate international tourism.
In addition, through the survey, representatives of some Lao and Thai travel businesses made wishes, proposals and comments to improve the quality and diversify the tourism products that Quang Tri province has just put into operation.
With its position as a bridgehead to Vietnam, Quang Tri is honored to represent the Central provinces to introduce to friends near and far the rich culture, revolutionary tradition; tourism products, potentials, and advantages of the province. Tourists can stop in Quang Tri to immerse themselves in the wonderful scenery of the forest, the sea, the sacred spiritual areas and gratitude with colorful cultural festivals.
Promote cooperation between parties
The East-West Economic Corridor plays an important role in the strategy of linking localities of the four countries that directly benefit from the Mekong Sub-region. Governments of countries along the East-West Economic Corridor focus on promoting economic and cultural exchange activities, especially considering the development of trade, services and tourism as both a driving force and a goal in the development strategy.
Hien Luong Bridge is an indispensable stop for Thai tourists when visiting Quang Tri - Photo: D.V
Despite many efforts between localities and parties, cooperation in tourism development on this corridor in general as well as cooperation and linkage between tourism units and companies between Quang Tri and tourism units and companies in Laos and Thailand in particular are not yet commensurate with the potential and strengths of each locality and region. In particular, cooperation and linkage in tourism have been almost interrupted and broken after more than 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to strengthen the connection and cooperation in tourism development between Quang Tri with Laos and the Northeast region of Thailand in the coming time, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nam suggested that the Tourism Association and Travel Associations of provinces in Laos and the Northeast region of Thailand pay attention to and strengthen connections to bring tourists to the sea and typical tourist destinations of Quang Tri province.
On the other hand, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee suggested that travel agencies in Quang Tri province focus on connecting with travel partners in Laos and the Northeast region of Thailand to exchange customers, contributing to bringing mutual benefits to all parties, developing tourism and local socio-economic development. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Quang Tri Tourism Association regularly update and supplement specific tourism products and announce tourism stimulus programs to domestic and foreign travel agencies...
Ms. Vilayvanh Chanthavong, President of the Savannakhet Provincial Tourism Association, Laos, expressed her agreement with the potential and opportunities for tourism cooperation between Quang Tri - Savannakhet and the northeastern provinces of Thailand.
“Quang Tri has a rich sea and seafood. The distance from Savannakhet province to Quang Tri is quite close, so Lao tourists can depart on Saturday to Quang Tri to swim, eat seafood, visit some places and return on Sunday easily. And in fact, there are now many tourist groups from our province driving their own cars to Quang Tri for sightseeing. In the opposite direction, tourists from Quang Tri in particular and Vietnam in general can also visit many places in Savannakhet, including the Ho Chi Minh Memorial. I hope that after this program, tourism businesses of the two provinces will promote more effective tourist exchanges,” Ms. Vilayvanh Chanthavong shared.
Resolving difficulties in traffic and immigration procedures
Some "bottlenecks" regarding the issue of driving cars on the wrong side of the steering wheel or shortcomings in immigration procedures have caused the effectiveness of tourism development cooperation between the parties in recent times to not achieve commensurate results.
Former Deputy Director of the Department of Transport Nguyen Duc Ha presented the current situation and solutions to remove obstacles for right-hand drive vehicles from Thailand to tourist destinations in Quang Tri province.
According to Mr. Ha, through a field survey and working with the Mukdahan Provincial Government Committee (Thailand), the demand for caravan tours using private vehicles from Thailand (Mukdahan province and the northeastern provinces far from the sea) to tourist destinations, historical and cultural relics of Quang Tri province is very large, especially island tourism through the "One day, eat three countries" tour.
To meet the above requirements, the transport sector is key. Mr. Ha informed that the Ministry of Transport is currently seeking opinions on the draft content of the decree replacing the decrees regulating right-hand drive vehicles entering Vietnam. The adjustment and replacement will solve many important problems to remove current shortcomings.
“The Northeast of Thailand has no sea, so tourists tend to travel to the beach and enjoy seafood on weekends. Quang Tri will be the first choice of our tourists. Similarly, tourists from Vietnam can visit and shop in the provinces of Udon, Khon Kaen and Korat in the Northeast of Thailand. Our region has many border gates, and both Laos and Quang Tri also have many border gates for traffic connection. Therefore, I think, if the road is convenient and customs clearance procedures are quick, on weekends, there will be more tourists from Thailand and Laos coming to have fun and eat at the beaches of Quang Tri.” Mr. Sajja Wongkittithon, Vice President of the Association of Tourism, Commerce and Industry of Northeastern Thailand. |
With the expectation of solutions from the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport, Ms. Vilayvanh Chanthavong, President of the Savannakhet Provincial Tourism Association and Mr. Sajja Wongkittithon, Vice President of ITITA, both share the same opinion: If the difficulties and problems in immigration procedures, transportation, and maximum convenience for caravan tourism are resolved, then surely the cooperation in tourism development between Quang Tri, Laos and the northeastern provinces of Thailand will flourish in the near future.
Continue to strengthen the tourism connection
Director of the Quang Tri Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center Nguyen Duc Tan said that the 2023 Tourism Caravan Program and the Quang Tri (Vietnam) - Laos - Thailand Tourism Connection Workshop have achieved positive results.
This program contributes to promoting and widely disseminating typical destinations of Quang Tri province to tourists from Laos and the Northeast region of Thailand, focusing on those using landtour (a tour linking travel companies serving the same customer to optimize benefits for all parties and save costs for customers) through Lao Bao International Border Gate.
At the same time, it affirmed that Quang Tri is an attractive destination for Vietnam's historical tourism and island tourism on the East-West Economic Corridor. Therefore, the center continues to strengthen the connection between Quang Tri tourism and Laos and Thailand tourism; raise awareness for the community and tourism businesses in Quang Tri to adapt to Laos and Thailand tourists in the new period.
Tourists take souvenir photos at Cua Viet Beach Service Tourist Area - Photo: D.V
“Immediately after joining the program, Lao and Thai travel agencies opened tours to Quang Tri, visiting typical tourist destinations in Quang Tri or staying in Quang Tri before starting tours to Hue and Da Nang, which they used to only pass by.
Communication products through the Caravan program were shared by travel agencies with the Lao and Thai tourism communities and received enthusiastic responses from many interested individuals and organizations," said Mr. Tan.
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