Tourism business in Dong Nai province has thrived in recent years, according to the report on tourism business of the province in 2013 and 2014.
Tourism business in Dong Nai province has thrived in recent years, according to the report on tourism business of the province in 2013 and 2014. Tourist arrivals to the province reached nearly 3 million in 2013, representing a year-on-year increase of 11.7 percent and exceeding the full-year plan by 2.3 percent. Tourism revenue grossed VND698 billion (US$32.5 million) in the year, up 13.7 percent year on year and 3.1 percent higher than the yearly plan. However, the results seemed to be below its potential. Hence, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will gradually work out detailed tourism development plans and create new tourism products to create breakthroughs in sustainable development. Enhancing investment promotion
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In 2013, with the effort of the entire sector and the support of tourism promotion agencies, the tourism sector still made impressive growth in both tourist arrivals and revenue in the face of economic difficulty.
However, to improve tourism business in the coming time, the province will step up tourism investment promotion. The tourism sector will proactively carry out some key tasks like building a tourism development action programme for the period from 2013 to 2020, drafting a tourism development directive, coordinating with the Economics Development Research Institute under the University of Economics to work out a tourism development planning for Dong Nai province until 2020, with a vision to 2030, and applying for the formation of a steering committee in charge of tourism development.
Tourism promotion has been regularly carried out on mass media, tourism websites and travel publications. The tourism sector has also collaborated with the Vietnam Tourism Association to organise tourism development programmes between Dong Nai and surrounding localities like Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province. The sector has also regularly attended tourism events, exhibitions and fairs like annual Southern Land Festival in Ho Chi Minh City to seek cooperation opportunities and popularise local tourism potential.
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At the same time, the province has also frequently trained tourism personnel in local tourism firms; coordinated local authorities in tourism management and support, environmental protection, tourist security; surveyed accommodation establishments to assess their status, the number and the quality. Since then, the province will build tourism development orientations to enhance accommodation quality to meet social needs.
Besides, the tourism sector of Dong Nai province has urged the progress of tourism projects, including Son Tien Residence and Resort (Bien Hoa City), wildlife animal farm and ecological resort (Trang Bom) and Long Tan ecological resort (Nhon Trach). The sector has asked the Provincial People’s Committee for permission to join local investment promotion agencies to attract tourism projects to tap local potential and advantage.
Developing riverway tourism
Diversifying tourism forms and improving tourism product quality is considered one of important tasks of the Dong Nai tourism sector. The province is particularly interested in developing potential tourism forms, especially waterway tourism. With long rivers spotted with beautiful landscapes, Dong Nai province has huge potential to develop riverway tourism, which is now very appealing to tourists.
Along the Dong Nai River lies many tourist attractions, including Tran Trieu Grapefruit Garden, Buu Long Resort, Tan Mai Fishing Village (Bien Hoa City), Ong Pagoda, Nguyen Huu Canh Temple and Tran Bien Temple. Most of these tourist attractions are located in the centre of Bien Hoa City which is well-connected with other tourist attractions in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province. However, these tourist sites are not properly invested.
To improve this situation and create an effective riverway tourism route, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will collaborate with the Department of Transport to conduct surveys on wharves for opening waterway tourism routes. As expected, wharves will be built with tourism standards: beautiful, safe and professional.
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After the infrastructure is built, the department will seek solutions to create waterway tourism tours linking Dong Nai with nearby localities. The department will create all favourable tourism for tourism companies and investors to operate these routes.
With proper and timely investment, the waterway tourism will positively contribute to the overall development of Dong Nai tourism sector – an important economic sector of the province.
(Source: VCCI)
