The central province of Nghe An is stepping up tourism promotion to fulfill the target of welcoming about 6.5 million tourists in 2019, including 145,000 foreigners. 

Cua Lo Beach in Nghe An Province

Apart from Cua Lo beach and the Kim Lien relic site, Nghe An has attracted domestic and foreign visitors to new destinations like Thanh Chuong green tea island, buckwheat flower valley, Nghia Dan sunflower field and community-based tourist sites. 

Tourism promotion has been seen as the key of the local tourism sector. Therefore, Nghe An has targeted such promising markets as Laos, China, Japan and Thailand. 

Many travel companies in the northeastern region of Thailand have come to seek cooperation opportunities with local businesses. 

Tanavit Kongsuriya, president of the travel association of Thailand’s Nongbua Lamphu province, said this is not his first trip to Nghe An to study the local tourism market.      

“Each trip offers us opportunities to explore new tourist sites in Nghe An and exchange experience with local tourism operators,” he added. 

In 2018, Nghe An served 123,000 foreign holiday-makers, mostly from France, the Netherland, Japan and Thailand, up 11 percent against the previous year. However, experts said, the province has yet to fully tap its potential and advantages. 

Thinakorn Thongphao, President of the Thai Travel Agents Association’s Northeastern Chapter, suggested Nghe An pay more attention to personnel training, infrastructure development and tourism promotion.

He underlined the need to maintain flights between Nghe An and Thailand which is home to a large number of Vietnamese. 

David, a UK tourist, said Nghe An should improve the quality of services at tourist destinations and accommodations, and special tourism products, while launching more promotion programmes. 

According to Nguyen Manh Cuong, Director of the provincial Department of Tourism, Nghe An has renewed tourism promotion methods, focusing on social networks and the application of achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, along with combining local destinations with inter-provincial and inter-regional value chains. 

It has identified ASEAN member countries, China, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Japan, Russia, France, Germany and the Czech Republic as major tourism markets. Domestically, it has targeted Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Lam Dong and localities in the north central, northwestern and Central Highlands regions.