Opportunity for Van Don tourism to "take off"

With a synchronous and modern transport infrastructure with an airport, a passenger port, and a highway, since the beginning of the year, Van Don has continued to inaugurate two high-end resorts on the large Cai Bau island and Quan Lan island, contributing to the completion of tourism infrastructure, opening up strong competitive opportunities for local tourism.

Tourists have fun at Wyndham Garden Sonasea Van Don Resort.

Wyndham Garden Sonasea Van Don Resort, invested by Van Don Tourism Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (CEO Van Don), opened last April. The project has a scale of 200 international 5-star hotel rooms and resort villas, aiming to form a multi-service complex, providing health care facilities, beach sports , outdoor entertainment, camping, conferences, seminars to meet the diverse needs of domestic and international tourists.

Following that, in mid-July, Angsana Quan Lan Ha Long Bay Hotel was also inaugurated and put into operation. This is a resort hotel complex invested by Viglacera Van Hai Joint Stock Company, built on an area of 35 hectares, with a scale of 150 international 5-star standard rooms. The complex also has 37 villas with full amenities according to standards...

These two projects are part of Van Don's key tourism service projects, and are also the first international 5-star hotels, promising the opportunity to awaken the potential for high-quality island tourism of the Quan Lan - Minh Chau provincial tourism area in particular and Van Don tourism in general. Mr. Dao Van Vu, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, shared: We expect these to be breakthroughs for local tourism in the coming time, overcoming the previous weaknesses in tourist accommodation facilities, opening up new opportunities for Van Don tourism to take off.

Stalactites in Luon cave in Cai De area (Bai Tu Long National Park), located in the sightseeing and tourism itinerary on Bai Tu Long bay.

This is also completely reasonable when businesses such as CEO Van Don will connect guests from Phu Quoc, Nha Trang to Van Don, and Banyan Group Hotel Management Group (Singapore) is hired to manage and operate Angsana Quan Lan Hotel, which is also part of Viglacera Van Hai's strategy to attract guests, especially international guests following the Angsana brand chain.

The operation of these two high-end accommodations also comes with the realization of many new tourism products of Van Don this year. According to local information, up to now, the district has put into operation 10/14 new tourism products, contributing to helping Van Don attract 649,000 visitors in the first 6 months of the year, of which international visitors increased by 96% over the same period, tourism revenue reached 1,195 billion VND, up 65.2% over the same period.

Recently, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2119/QD-UBND dated July 19, 2024 on announcing sightseeing and tourism itineraries on Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay. Accordingly, there are 10 itineraries on Bai Tu Long Bay, and 3 itineraries connecting Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay. The itineraries pass through many destinations in Van Don, such as: Tay Hoi Island, Meo Luoi Island, Dua Island, Thien Nga Island, Nha Tro Cave, Phat Co Cave, pearl farming area (Dan Da Island), Lao Vong fishing village, Tra Ngo Lon Island, Cai De area, Mang Ha overnight anchorage point, Cai Lim beach, Tra Than lagoon, Ban Sen, Thang Loi, Ngoc Vung, Quan Lan, Minh Chau islands... This is a good sign, a basis for businesses and localities, including Van Don, to deploy and effectively exploit the advantages of Bai Tu Long Bay.

Minh Chau is a destination on the journey connecting Ha Long Bay - Bai Tu Long Bay. Photo taken at Chuong Nep beach, Minh Chau island commune.

Currently, Viet Thuan Transport Company Limited has launched the Grand Pioneers II cruise ship to pioneer tourism connection between the two bays of Ha Long and Bai Tu Long according to the "Heritage Journey". Appreciating the natural potential as well as the cultural and historical values of Bai Tu Long Bay, Mr. Luong The Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Company, shared: Adjacent to Ha Long Bay is Bai Tu Long Bay with great potential that has not been fully exploited. Therefore, Viet Thuan has decided to pioneer in expanding the space, not only exploiting the heritage area of Ha Long Bay but also developing tourism connecting these two bays of Quang Ninh . We expect this to be not only a new product but also a trend of high-end resort tourism for customers in the future.

Of course, the above itineraries are the basis for orienting the construction of tourist attractions and tourism products in Van Don. To put into operation the attractions and services, it is required to ensure all conditions according to current regulations. The itineraries can only be exploited when ensuring safety according to the provisions of law.

In the above decision, the Provincial People's Committee also assigned the Department of Transport to review, inspect, and announce the operating conditions for itineraries for inland waterway vehicles; preside over and coordinate with competent authorities to approve the Plan to develop the tourist fleet of Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay according to the criteria of high quality, luxury, uniqueness, ensuring quality and safety (not chasing quantity), in which specifically defining the quality criteria, the number of vehicles operating in the Bai Tu Long Bay area...

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