The central provinces of Thua Thien – Hue and Quang Nam as well as Da Nang city ought to work closely to establish a shared good quality tourism products with improved quality.

Vice Director of the Thua Thien Hue Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Huu Minh expressed the opinion during a conference on guiding the future affiliation held in Hue city on July 16.

He pointed to popular features of each locality, such as Da Nang fireworks, Hue festivals and Quang Nam heritage tours, saying the cooperation would enhance the strength of the coastal sites and better cater to market demands.

The conference is part of an EU-funded project to build responsible tourism capacity in Vietnam.

The three coastal localities hold a major position in the overall strategy and plan of the nation to develop the tourism sector through 2020.

The same day, the project organised a training course on responsible tourism for more than 50 participants from local travel and hotel accommodations.

Quang Nam boosts sea, island tourism development

The central province of Quang Nam has devised a number of measures to boost tourism development, especially on Cu Lao Cham Island, said Tran Hung, Head of the island’s Association of Tourism.

The tourism sector and local authorities have focused on improving the quality of sea and islands tourism services, Hung said.

A wide range of discounts and services are also being offered to lure more tourists for the “Cu Lao Night” package, such as free tickets to the Cu Lao Cham reserved areas and the ancient quarter, and discounted accommodation, resort or homestay services.

Hung also called for comprehensive investment in infrastructure facilities, products and services to ensure a sustainable development of the sector.

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of the Hoi An ancient city Nguyen Van Son said the locality considers developing sea and island tourism as the central component of boosting the sustainable growth of the sector.

It will continue promoting its pristine beaches, homestays, spiritual tours and ecotourism, according to Son.

In the long term, the city will mobilise domestic and international resources to diversify its tourism products, with priority given to developing infrastructure facilities and enhancing service quality, Son said.

Located 15 kilometres from Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An city, Cu Lao Cham, a complex of eight small islands with a total population of about 3,000, is a UNESCO-recognised Biosphere Reserve.

Meanwhile, the ancient city of Hoi An is an old trading port that dates back to the 15th century. The UNESCO-recognised world heritage site welcomed 1.7 million foreign tourists last year.

Preliminary statistics shows that so far this year, Quang Nam province has received more than 1.3 million tourists, half of them are foreigners.

VNA