“One Journey, Many Experiences” Partnership Programme - An Opportunity for Tourism Businesses to Meet

DNHN - With the theme “One Journey, Many Experiences”, the tourism promotion and development conference between the four provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh has just taken place.

With a special geographical location in the North and North Central regions, being the starting point of the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail and also the starting point of the East-West tourism corridor (along National Highway 8), along with a relatively developed and convenient road, rail, air and seaport transportation system, the four provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh have jointly organised the Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh Tourism Promotion and Development Conference with the theme “One Journey, Many Experiences” within the framework of the activities at the VITM Hanoi International Tourism Fair 2024.

This is considered the gateway to the Central region with an extremely diverse and rich source of tourism resources, with many world heritages recognised by UNESCO such as Trang An Cultural and Natural World Heritage (Ninh Binh) - the first double heritage in Southeast Asia region, the Ho Dynasty Citadel Cultural World Heritage (Thanh Hoa), the intangible cultural heritage of humanity such as Vi and Giam folk songs of Nghe Tinh (Nghe An, Ha Tinh) along with cultural and historical values that are imbued with the national cultural identity and yet rich in their unique characteristics, combined with diverse and attractive natural and human tourism resources for domestic and international tourists, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh are becoming a bridge between tourist areas throughout the country.

Many tours have been exploited and continue to be developed such as the Western Nghe An Community Tourism Exploration Tour Programme, Pu Mat National Park - connecting with Ben En National Park Thanh Hoa - Ninh Binh - Hanoi - Northwest provinces tourism; connecting Northwest tourism with Nghe An via the Ho Chi Minh Trail and National Highway 1A; the region’s unique characteristic tours connecting through the ancient Vietnamese capitals (Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, Ho Dynasty Citadel and Quang Trung Temple), etc.

In 2024, Ninh Binh has prepared all the conditions to achieve the target of welcoming 7.5 million visitors. In particular, in April, Ninh Binh will organise a series of activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Trang An Scenic Complex being recognised by UNESCO as a Cultural and Natural World Heritage (2014 - 2024). These will be events that connect and disseminate the values of the heritage, inspire and enthuse the younger generation; as well as honouring the achievements and contributions of organisations and individuals in managing, preserving and promoting the values of the heritage.

For the Thanh Hoa tourism industry, right from the beginning of 2024, the locality has prepared all conditions to welcome and serve tourists, aiming to welcome 13.8 million visitors. By focusing on combining cultural, sporting and tourism events, creating a series of events to serve tourism development to bring tourists the fullest experience, both enjoying the natural scenery, savouring the local cuisine, and participating in traditional and modern cultural, artistic and sporting activities.

In Nghe An, the target for 2024 is to welcome 5.5 million overnight tourists. In the near future, Cua Lo town will open the Tourism Festival on April 18th with a special art programme and fireworks display, along with a light show using drones combined with music. In addition, Cua Lo also has many new attractions to attract tourists such as the Cua Hoi entertainment area, the night market and the Nguyen Hue walking street in Nghi Thu ward every Friday evening to Sunday; renovating check-in points on Lan Chau peninsula, Binh Minh square, the fishing port and Cua Hoi bridge, Nghi Thuy fishing village, the sea daisy conservation area, etc.

With the target of welcoming 4 million visitors, in 2024, Ha Tinh will organise many major events such as: the 120th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Tran Phu (1/5/1904 - 1/5/2024); the 110th anniversary of the birth of the heroic martyr Ly Tu Trong (20/10/1914 - 20/10/2024); the 300th anniversary of the birth of Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac (1724 - 2024) associated with the event honouring the World Cultural Figure; the 10th anniversary of the Vi and Giam folk songs of Nghe Tinh being recognised by UNESCO, etc.

With the desire to develop together sustainably, to create a journey with many interesting experiences, the tourism promotion and development conference aims to enhance the effectiveness of exploiting the linked tours of the provinces, connecting them into a journey with many interesting experiences, contributing to positioning the tourism brand and attracting domestic and international tourists.

Through the tourism promotion and development conference, the four provinces hope to invite investors, travel businesses and tourists to visit, learn, research, and invest, as well as develop new attractive tourism programmes, create connections, differentiation, and bring many attractive and meaningful experiences to tourists, thereby attracting more and more tourists to the localities.

Speaking at the conference, Mr Pham Van Thuy, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) assessed that Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh have many favourable conditions for developing tourism, expanding tourism space, increasing experiences in the journey of exploration for tourists, increasing the exchange of visitors with localities, tourist areas throughout the country and with neighbouring countries. Through the linkage into “One Journey - Many Experiences” between the tourist destinations of the four localities is an inevitable trend to promote cooperation activities, link promotion, promote destinations, build, position the market, new tourism products and services, stimulate tourism demand in 2024, and build the tourism image of the four localities.

According to Mr Thuy, in the coming time, the provinces will coordinate together, aiming to develop common tourism products, and at the same time, continue to share information, and experience, and coordinate in tourism management. To do this, it is necessary to research and develop long-term tourism products for the joint promotion and development of the four provinces.

This is the third year that the provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh have jointly organised a tourism promotion and development conference. This activity also creates an opportunity for tourism businesses in the four localities to meet tourism partners throughout the country; together promoting tourism in the four localities by linking them into a journey with many interesting experiences.

Ngoc Lam