A corner of Con Co island in Quang Tri province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The central province of Quang Tri is emerging as a bright spot in the central region and especially in the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) in terms of potential for tourism development, renewable energy and connecting international trade.
Quang Tri was on one of the fiercest military demarcations in the world, known as a "bomb bag", a "land of fire" or a "dead coordinate" due to the terrible destruction by US bombs.
Before 1975, during the war against the US, the 17th parallel in Quang Tri was known worldwide as a demilitarized zone, also known as the most terrifying temporary military frontier (DMZ - Demilitarized Zone) dividing the South and North of Vietnam.
At this DMZ, the American and forces of the Saigon regime not only dropped thousands of tons of bombs and toxic chemicals. They also developed many impressive war theories to cut off the attack path of the North Vietnamese army as well as to eliminate the desire for peace and unification of the people of the South and North.
It was in this province that many places have become an unforgettable memory of a traumatic and devastating DMZ such as the McNamara electric fence, Ta Con airport, Vinh Moc tunnels, Vay village, Road 9 - Khe Sanh, Tien islet, Mieu slope and Hien Luong bridge - Ben Hai river.
The war is over, wartime wounds are slowly healing and many people around the world including American veterans have returned to Quang Tri. Here, they go on "DMZ tours" with the desire to discover the mysterious things about this land once known as the "dead coordinate".
Today, the type of DMZ tour is probably only available in the Republic of Korea and Vietnam. This kind of tour always has a special attraction, especially for foreign tourists, because it not only evokes people's imagination of a sensitive, dangerous and deadly military confrontation area but also historical problems of the times.
While in the RoK, the DMZ tours often take tourists to visit certain restricted areas in the current demilitarized zone between the RoK and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In Quang Tri these tours will take tourists directly to explore the massive historical system of landmarks, bases and military complexes of the 17th parallel DMZ region.
Quang Tri DMZ tour itinerary usually takes place in one day. According to the itinerary, from Dong Ha, visitors will visit Road 9 where the Road 9-Khe Sanh campaign took place, which is known as the "second battle of Dien Bien Phu" in Vietnam. It is where Rockpile hill, Ta Con airport and the Khe Sanh base are located. Next, visitors will be taken to visit the place of Tien islet-Mieu slope, which is considered a US base and the "eye of god" of the McNamara electric fence. From here visitors will continue to visit the special national relic site - "Hien Luong bridge-Ben Hai river", the most important stop on the DMZ tour at the 17th parallel. It includes Hien Luong bridge which symbolizes the pain that separates the South and the North, the police station at the border line, the observatory, the loudspeaker system with a large capacity used to propagate the struggle to the other side of the line, the museum and the statue cluster "Aspiration for unification". From Hien Luong bridge, visitors will visit the Vinh Moc Tunnels, a unique military work with an underground tunnel system. The total length is more than 2,000m, divided into three floors, the deepest floor is more than 20m, and was used as a place for the people of Vinh Linh district, Quang Tri province to shelter.
The DMZ tour is a unique type of tourism creating its own tourism brand in Quang Tri province, so it is interested in investing and exploiting its own strengths to bring a one-of-a-kind war experience tour for domestic and foreign tourists.
In addition to the strength of the DMZ tour, Quang Tri is also emerging as a land with great potential for island tourism with a coastline of more than 75km with many beautiful untouched beaches such as Cua Viet, Cua Tung, My Thuy, Vinh Thai, Gia Dang and especially Con Co island, a beautiful unspoiled island known as "pearl island" in the East Sea.
With this potential, Quang Tri has a strategy to develop island tourism into the strength of the locality, in which the idea of building a "triangle" of sea tourism of Cua Tung-Cua Viet-Con Co island is the focus to attract domestic and foreign investors to invest in developing Quang Tri into a leading island resort center in the central region./.
