In recent years, in addition to formulating policies on reactivating tourism, Quang Nam province has put forward mechanisms to support and encourage businesses to create new green and environmentally-friendly tourism products. These policies and mechanisms have helped to lure more visitors to the province after a two-year shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hoi An is an attractive tourist destination in Quang Nam province (Photo: VNA)
New and unique tourism products
Over the past years, Quang Nam provincial authorities have promulgated policies to encourage sustainable tourism development. Chairman of Hoi An city People's Committee Nguyen Van Son said that the city has called for investment in expanding tourism spaces, building new tourist sites in villages, improving tourism services in rural areas, and promoting cultural resources.
In addition, the city has paid heed to safeguard cultural values and boosting tourism in traditional craft villages, including the Kim Dong carpentry village, Thanh Ha pottery village, Tra Que vegetable-growing village, Cam Thanh coconut forest, and Cam Hoa flower village.
The launch of ecological tours to these villages have helped tourists, particularly foreigners, explore the traditional culture, landscape and life of the local people.
Recently, Dien Ban town inaugurated Cam Phu - Go Noi community-based tourism village in Dien Phong commune. The village is located along the banks of Thu Bon River, more than 15km from Hoi An to the west and about 30km from Da Nang city to the south.
Visitors to Cam Phu - Go Noi community-based tourism village can enjoy signature dishes of Quang Nam province (Photo: baoquangnam.vn)
According to Deputy Director of Dien Ban Town’s Centre for Culture, Sports and Radio-Television Phan Thi Thai Hoa, visitors to the village are offered various travel experiences, including exploring the craft of wood carving and crop cultivation, watching fish catching on Thu Bon river, tasting signature dishes of Quang Nam province, enjoying folk music, and participating in folk games.
Vice Chairman of Quang Nam provincial People's Committee Ho Quang Buu hailed that the inauguration of Cam Phu Community-based Tourism Village has added a new place on Quang Nam’s green tourist map.
Striving to become a national green tourism centre
In recent years, Quang Nam province has identified green tourism development as an important task in the province's overall tourism strategy. In late March this year, the provincial People’s Committee held a seminar entitled ‘Quang Nam develops green tourism and preserves indigenous values’.
The province also issued a set of green tourism criteria with the support of the Swiss Sustainable Tourism Programme (SSTP) based on reference to 25 sets of international sustainable tourism criteria for hotels, homestays, resorts, travel, community-based attractions and tourism sites.
Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Thanh Hong reported that Quang Nam has successfully organised a myriad of activities within the framework of the Visit Vietnam Year 2022, which have attracted great interest from locals and tourists.
Tourists enjoy a boat trip to explore Cam Thanh coconut forest in Cam Thanh commune, Hoi An city (Photo courtesy of EMIC)
As a result, the total number of visitors to the province in the first five months of this year reached more than 638,000, two times higher than the same period of 2021. Of which, the number of international visitors counted nearly 18,000, an increase of 187.8 % year on year.
In May alone, Quang Nam greeted nearly 241,000 holidaymakers, including 8,400 foreigners, up 36.3% and 61% over the previous month, respectively.
Notably, the provincial People's Committee recently issued a plan for socio-economic recovery and development in the context of safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the province will speed up tourism recovery and stimulate tourism demand.