Quang Ninh pursue field of opportunity

Quang Ninh: much more than just Halong Bay

Hung and his family, residents of Hanoi, recently returned from their three-day, two-night tour to Halong Bay in Quang Ninh. All family members were delighted with the tour. For several years now many domestic and foreign visitors have taken tours on Halong Bay. This acclaimed world wonder is the perfect choice for short-term holidays as visitors can cruise around its spectacular islands and stay at competitively-priced coastal hotels.

Following its recognition as a world heritage site by UNESCO, the bay has become renowned throughout the world for its breath-taking beauty. In fact, Quang Ninh itself has practically become defined by Halong Bay.

The provincial leaders, particularly tourism sector executives, however, frequently reiterate that besides the bay, Quang Ninh has much more to offer visitors. There is the sacred Yen Tu Mountain, the stunning untapped beaches of Co To, Quan Lan, Tra Co and Minh Chau, as well as the Van Don island district which has been dubbed as an untouched ‘precious pearl’.

According to Ha Quang Long, director of Quang Ninh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the province is home to more than 600 cultural, historical relics and natural attractions, as well as over 2,000 islands of diverse size which account for two thirds of Vietnam’s total islands, further demonstrating the province’s tremendous tourism potential.

The number of visitors calling on the province, however, remains below expectations. Last year, 7.5 million visitors, two million of which were foreigners, came to the province, and while a dream figure to many other provinces, it is still regarded as below the province’s potential.

Awakening the province’s potential

Patchy development, lack of long-term vision as well as attractive offerings are the problems of not only the provincial tourism sector, but also of Vietnam’s tourism as whole.

Chief of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Nguyen Van Tuan, has acknowledged that the country’s tourism still lacks professionalism, so less appealing not only to Japan and South Korea, but also to Indonesia, Thailand, or even Cambodia.

Thailand greeted 26 million foreign visitors last year while Vietnam’s tourism saw only 7 million foreign arrivals. This year, foreign visitors to Vietnam saw a sharp decline.

In this context, Quang Ninh has chosen to hire a reputed consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), to help them pen the provincial tourism development master plan for 2020, with vision towards 2030.

According to BCG, the tourism sector’s major challenges are low-quality transport systems, in addition to a lack of major tourism projects, quality products, high-end accommodation, and quality human resources, as well as the effective vehicles for marketing its image.

Concerns about litter and damage to the environment are also hurting the image of a fresh and beautiful Halong Bay.

“Without pure crystal water and islands with untapped beauty, Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long could lose their charm, and their image on international tourism maps will be affected,” said Douglas E.Jackson, BCG’s managing director.

To help the province restore its appeal, the BCG has proposed the application of 56 measures to tackle these weaknesses.

“Shortage of quality offerings to visitors such as high-end accommodation means that high-spending foreign visitors will not consider staying in Quang Ninh. Well-known restaurant chains will often book travel destinations for their loyal customers, delighting them and ensuring that the customers won’t want to stay anywhere else,” said Jackson, citing why Quang Ninh has to offer the visitors quality products as well as top-grade accommodations.

That also explains why the BCG has proposed building a top-end resort complex with a casino and luxury shopping mall in Van Don island district to entice high-spending visitors.

According to Le Quang Tung, the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee Deputy Chairman, they expect Van Don’s development could take off in the near future through the execution of two major projects, including the building of Van Don airport and a casino and resort complex.

With these two projects, it is hoped that a new niche of tourism in Vietnam is formed, so called ‘Fresh and Luxurious’ catering to high-spending visitors from Asia and Europe. The projects will focus on areas including Van Don, Bai Tu Long gulf and Halong Bay.

Besides ‘Fresh and Luxurious’, the province will also develop three other segments of tourism products targeting specific customer groups, including ‘Discovering Vietnam charm’, ‘Northern visitor tourism’ and ‘Vietnam spiritual tourism’.

The long-term vision will likely help Quang Ninh ramp up its appeal to visitors and investors as well.

Enormous opportunities for tourism take-off

In late 2014, during the Halong Smile programme which was launched by the provincial leaders to celebrate 20 years of UNESCO’s recognition of Halong Bay as a world heritage site, the Party Secretary Nguyen Van Doc (the provincial People’s Committee Chairman at the time) and many other provincial executives smiled warmly and created heart-shapes with their hands to greet the visitors, an act which deeply moved the crowd.

The programme put the message across that the leaders would do all in their power to turn their locality into a place full of smiles and hospitality for all visitors.

Impressing visitors is one way to attract more and more people to visit the province. However, ensuring they are satisfied with their stay and enticing them to come back again is a much more challenging task.

More than just having a well-conceived and professional tourism development plan, Quang Ninh must act to awaken its ample potential.

Under the tourism sector master plan developed by the BCG, Quang Ninh aims to attract 10.5 million visitors (including four million foreigners) by 2020, increasing to 23 million by 2030 (with 10 million foreigners).

The province is now seeing unprecedented opportunities for the expansion of its tourism. The provincial transport infrastructure is being improved, bringing the province closer to other localities in the region through a string of road and bridge projects, either completed or currently under intensive construction.

Never before has the province promoted its tourism development so ardently.

Besides attracting many big foreign investors, major local investors have also shown their interests in the province.

Sun Group may engage in two major projects in Van Don district - the building of Van Don airport and a casino and resort complex.

Sun Group has spared no efforts to upgrade Bai Chay beach to serve the public. The first 300m long of the beach was ready to serve visitors on the celebration of National Reunification and International Labour Day on April 30 and May 1, 2015.

Another 600m beach will shortly be completed, turning Bai Chay into a premium beach meeting environmental standards.

Another property giant, Vingroup, is in high gear with its plan to build a luxury resort in Dao Reu, while a Taiwan-based group has proposed the implementation of a $1 billion tourism project in the province.

The $550 million Ha Long Star project, developed by UAE-based group Limitless World, has planned to kick off construction.

Besides these megaprojects, Japanese firm World Link Japan Inc. very recently began working with the provincial management on improving Ha Long Bay’s water quality standards.

The opportunities have proven great, and have paved the way for a rise in provincial tourism.