Binh Thuan province taps strength in tourism

Binh Thuan (VNA) – Tourism has become an economic spearhead of the south-central coastal province of Binh Thuan, with diverse tourism products.

International windsurfing competition in Binh Thuan – Fun Cup 2019 (Photo: VNA)

Strength in sea-based tourism

The province has a coastline of 192km, with various beautiful landscapes such as Mui Yen, Cau isle, Ke Ga lighthouse, Ganh Son, Gieng Tien, and Hon Cau Marine Protected Area where hundreds of kinds of rare creatures live.

In addition, Binh Thuan boasts Phu Quy island which is known as “a pearl in the middle of the sea” and located about 56 nautical miles off the coast of the province. The island has become an attractive destination to investors.

Meanwhile, Mui Ne beach, with its warm and windy climate, has served as a venue for well-known surfers from the UK, France, Russia, Germany and Australia.

Thanks to efforts to improve the management work and diversify tourism products, the number of tourists to the locality has risen year after year.

Sea sports like windsurfing and kite-surfing and adventure tours have helped lengthen tourists’ stay.

A dance performance by Cham people at the Kate festival (Photo: VNA)

Optimising cultural, historical values to promote tourism

Apart from marine tourism, Binh Thuan has paid attention to preserving and promoting values of cultural heritage.

According to Nguyen Chi Phu, Deputy Director of the provincial Museum, national and provincial relic sites in the locality are being preserved, contributing to serving spiritual life of locals and meeting tourism demand.

Binh Thuan is home to more than 300 historical and cultural relic sites, of which 28 have won national recognition and 40 have earned provincial status. Most of them hold typical values in terms of architecture, arts, history and culture.

Falling on the first day of the seventh month of the Cham calendar, Kate is the biggest event in the year of the Cham followers of Brahmanism to pay respect to gods and pray for productive harvests and multiple natural and human resources.

There are about 153,000 Cham people in Vietnam, of whom over 41,000 live in Binh Thuan, mainly in Bac Binh, Tuy Phong and Tanh Linh districts.

Also, Nghinh Ong (Whale Worship) festival is a cultural identity of Binh Thuan, which has been preserved and passed down through generations. The festival is to pray for bumper hauls of fish, safe voyages and peace for the nation.

The festival, together with four others, was chosen to serve tourism development in the province, making contributions to popularising local images among domestic and international friends.

In recent years, Binh Thuan has made efforts to make tourism a key local industry. The province has added more tourism services in terms of transportation, shopping and underwater sports to serve the increasing demand of holidaymakers.

It has also ramped up activities to promote local tourist attractions and expand cooperation with other popular destinations in the south central coast and Mekong Delta.

Inspections have been intensified on tour operators and lodging providers to ensure they comply with related regulations while more lifeguards and fire fighters have been employed to ensure safety.

The province is running 378 valid tourism projects with total registered capital of 59 trillion VND (2.53 billion USD), covering 6,300 hectares of land.

Apart from 490 accommodation establishments with 15,000 rooms, and 860 houses and villas in service of holiday-makers, Binh Thuan boasts stable railway and maritime transport systems.

According to Nguyen Van Khoa, President of the provincial Tourism Association, in 2018, Binh Thuan welcomed more than 5.7 million tourists, up 12.8 percent year-on-year, with foreign arrivals reaching 675,000, up 14.3 percent.

Foreign visitors to Binh Thuan mainly came from Russia, China, the Republic of Korea, the UK, France and Germany.

Last year, the province earned 12.8 trillion VND (550.4 million USD) from tourism services in the year, up 18.9 percent against 2017.

Nguyen Ngoc Hai, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said Binh Thuan has become a key national tourism destination with diverse products.

Tourism spurred local economic development, generating jobs for thousands of labourers, especially those in rural and coastal areas, and preserving the historical and cultural values of the locality.

To turn tourism into a spearhead economic sector, Binh Thuan has stepped up investment attraction, accelerated the implementation of expressway projects and intensified tourism connectivity with the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, other south central provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.

The locality aims to serve 7 million travellers by 2020 and earn 18.3 trillion VND (786.9 million USD) from the tourism sector, which is expected to contribute about 10 percent of the province’s gross regional domestic product./.