Sea and island tourism a ‘gold mine’ that needs to be tapped fully

Vietnam boasts a coastline of 3,260km, with nearly 400 beaches and over 3,000 islands (Photo: tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – Sea and island tourism has long been a magnet, attractingover 70% of the total foreign tourists to Vietnam. However, the country has yet to fullytap its potential and advantages to develop this type of tourism in a better way.

Vietnam boasts a coastline of 3,260km, with nearly 400beaches and over 3,000 islands, stretching from the North to the South. Manyof them have gained international titles. For example, Ha Long Bay in thenorthern province of Quang Ninh is among the seven New Wonders of the World.My Khe Beach in the central city of Da Nang has been named among the 10 bestbeaches in Asia, as voted on by readers of renowned travel website TripAdvisor.Meanwhile, US-based Time Magazine voted Phu Quoc as one of the top 100 mostamazing islands in the world in 2021. In November 2022, surpassing sixworld-famous islands, Phu Quoc was honoured by the World Travel Awards as"The island with the world's top captivating natural beauty”.

Pham Hong Long, head of the Faculty of Tourism Studies ofthe University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University,Hanoi), said it is not by chance that Vietnam's Tourism DevelopmentStrategy to 2025, with a vision to 2030, orientates that sea and island tourismis one of the four main types of Vietnam's tourism. Meanwhile, the Strategy forSustainable Development of Vietnam's Sea-based Economy to 2030, with a visionto 2045, defines that tourism and marine services are the top priority in sixbreakthroughs of the marine economy by 2030.

Therefore, it is a ‘gold mine’ of the green economy,said Long, stressing the need for more attention from the State to help itdevelop further.

Sea and island tourism has long been a magnet, attracting over 70% of the total foreign tourists to Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

However, by now, Vietnam has exploited only 20% of the beaches across thenation, mostly renowned ones such as Ha Long Bay, Sam Son, Cua Lo, Lang Co, DaNang, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, and Phu Quoc.

This makes these beaches overloaded in the peak season,leading to many consequences in terms of business culture, environmentaldegradation, conflicts over the use of marine resources, and price inflation.

In addition, human resources in the post-pandemic period are few in quantity and weak in skills. In particular, Vietnam does not havehigh-class products that help increase revenue and boost sustainabledevelopment.

Pham Ha, CEO and Founder of Lux Group - Asia’s leadingluxury travel and tourism company, stated that current policies have not reallycreated favourable conditions for investors to develop tourism services at sea andislands.

According to him, when investing in operating Emperor Cruisein Nha Trang, it took his company a lot of time and money to get 18 types oflicenses from many different management agencies. Applying for licenses toinvest in yachts in Phu Quoc is also facing similar difficulties, he added.

Therefore, he stressed the need to have a strategy and planto exploit sea and island tourism more harmoniously and sustainably./.

VNA