Promoting cultural heritage values to become a driving force for development

Truc Lam Yen Tu Palace is where national and international cultural and religious events take place.

Possessing two world heritages, Yen Tu and Ha Long Bay, is the driving force for Quang Ninh tourism to break through and develop sustainably.

The World Natural Heritage of Ha Long Bay and the Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son, Kiep Bac, recognized by UNESCO, are a great opportunity and motivation for Quang Ninh to promote sustainable socio -economic development. Quang Ninh owns two world heritages, which not only deepens the historical and cultural values, but also complements each other for mutual development. One natural heritage and one cultural heritage create a balanced structure between "nature and human".

These are two heritages of outstanding global value, helping Quang Ninh gradually affirm its position on the international cultural and natural tourism map. This is also an important resource for Quang Ninh to make a breakthrough, bringing the value of heritages to a new level.

Delegation of Quang Ninh province took souvenir photo at the 47th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France).

At the ceremony to announce the outstanding global value of the World Cultural Heritage Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son, Kiep Bac, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: “The Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son and Kiep Bac relic and landscape complex recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site has contributed to enriching the culture imbued with Vietnamese identity. This is soft power, the internal force for culture to truly become a breakthrough driving force for development, for Vietnamese culture to be forever famous, and for the country to firmly step into a new era of wealth, civilization and prosperity.”

The heritages recognized by UNESCO have opened up opportunities for development in tourism, services, and culture, contributing to attracting high-quality tourists and promoting international cooperation in investment, research, education, and conservation. From these potentials, Quang Ninh has identified the development of “heritage economy” as a strategic direction in sustainable socio-economic development.

The province has built a policy mechanism to ensure the balance and harmony between heritage conservation and livelihood development for the people, building the community to become the center of heritage protection to "live in heritage, protect heritage and benefit from heritage" according to the motto of Vietnam's tourism industry. At the same time, implementing solutions, enhancing the sense of responsibility, committing to well implementing regulations in the management and promotion of heritage values, especially in the heritage complex recognized by UNESCO.

Luxury cruise ship takes international tourists to visit the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay.

Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ninh Nguyen Viet Dung said: “The tourism industry identifies heritage as a special cultural resource, having both economic value and being a pillar in building identity, trust and human development. Quang Ninh invests in infrastructure connecting heritage areas in a way that ensures harmony of landscape, ecology, culture and experience and access, and exploits heritage responsibly. At the same time, develop creative economic models based on heritage associated with promoting public-private cooperation, regional and international linkages in preserving and exploiting heritage according to UNESCO standards.”

Every year, Yen Tu attracts millions of domestic and international tourists to visit and worship King Tran Nhan Tong. This year, for the first time, Yen Tu ward organizes the "Yen Tu - Autumn Zen" Festival lasting for 3 months, from September to December 2025 with a series of attractive cultural, sports and tourism events at Yen Tu Special National Monument and a number of relics and tourist areas in the ward.

This event is not only an important highlight in the strategy to stimulate tourism in the fall, the low season in Yen Tu, but also marks a new development step in the work of preserving and promoting the value of Truc Lam Buddhist cultural heritage and building a separate spiritual and meditation tourism brand for the sacred land of Yen Tu, contributing to realizing the policy of "four-season tourism" of Quang Ninh province.

International tourists coming to Quang Ninh by ship are increasing rapidly.

Considered as the image of a "miniature Vietnam", Quang Ninh converges, crystallizes and shines many cultural forms of the country with an extremely valuable treasure of cultural and natural heritage. Possessing more than 640 historical, cultural, scenic and scenic relics, including 2 world heritages, 8 special national relics; more than 360 intangible cultural heritages including 19 nationally recognized heritages is the driving force for Quang Ninh to gradually turn its precious heritage treasure into an endogenous resource for development. With the "dynamic conservation" approach of both preserving the original and exploiting it reasonably, Quang Ninh has formed an effective heritage economic model, creating momentum for green and sustainable growth.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council Nguyen Xuan Thang shared: “With a forward-thinking and strong breakthrough development, in recent years, Quang Ninh has restructured the economy, transforming the development method from “brown” to “green” in a sustainable direction based on three pillars: nature, people, and culture.

The province has devoted many investment resources and closely coordinated with localities in the region to restore, embellish and increase the value of heritages, contributing to turning heritages into a new and important driving force for socio-economic development. Quang Ninh's experience in preserving and developing heritages into a driving force for development is a valuable lesson for other localities across the country.

World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay has charming beauty and is a destination for domestic and international tourists.

Ha Long Bay World Natural Heritage has been recognized by UNESCO three times for its geological, geomorphological and landscape values. Since 1996, Ha Long Bay has welcomed nearly 60 million visitors, with total entrance fee revenue estimated at over VND8,600 billion. This is a globally famous destination and an important economic development driver for Quang Ninh.

To create a solid foundation for the heritage economy, Quang Ninh is focusing on investing heavily in infrastructure. Spiritual tourism routes in localities such as Dong Trieu, Uong Bi, Quang Yen, and Van Don have been formed, closely connected into a chain of spaces with diverse products. In addition, Quang Ninh continues to promote the application of digital technology in promoting heritage, building platforms to introduce cultural products, digitizing heritage data, and organizing virtual reality experiences. This contributes to bringing Quang Ninh heritage further, reaching out to tourists around the world.

With a profound mindset to develop the heritage economy sustainably, Quang Ninh has determined that it cannot be exploited alone but must build a highly linked value chain. Large heritage spaces such as Ha Long Bay, Yen Tu, Bach Dang are being connected with traditional craft villages, OCOP products and local culinary culture to create unique, multi-experience tourism routes. At the same time, the province has also implemented many policies to encourage businesses to invest in the field of heritage conservation and exploitation, support artisans, develop cultural industries and commercialize products on digital platforms. These efforts aim to make cultural heritage a driving force for Quang Ninh's development.

Quang Ninh owns hundreds of historical and cultural relics, landscapes and scenic spots, including two World Heritage Sites: Ha Long Bay and Yen Tu.

However, besides efforts to preserve and promote the value of cultural and historical heritages, Quang Ninh is facing challenges in the journey of developing the heritage economy. These are the risk of "raw exploitation" of cultural and natural values, the decline of traditional craft villages, changes in spiritual tourism, or the lack of specific mechanisms to attract businesses and communities to participate in conservation... These are barriers that need to be resolved promptly.

Therefore, the province is gradually perfecting policies, promoting inter-sectoral cooperation, enhancing the role of the community and raising people's awareness, especially enhancing education for the younger generation about the unique value of heritages, thereby creating a solid foundation for sustainable local development.

It can be seen that the heritage economic development model that Quang Ninh is aiming for has shown sustainable effectiveness. Heritage not only has spiritual value, but is also an important condition in the socio-economic development strategy. Based on the opinions of experts and local practices, for the first time, the draft Political Report submitted to the 16th Quang Ninh Provincial Party Congress has identified heritage economy as a key task, closely linked to cultural and human development and the preservation of local identity.

Quang Ninh also aims to develop the cultural industry and promote the heritage economy to become a new growth engine. The goal by 2030 is that Quang Ninh will become a national tourism center of international stature, a leading destination in the ASEAN region, associated with world heritages and wonders such as Ha Long Bay, Yen Tu Monuments and Landscape Complex, Van Don Ancient Commercial Port, and a system of high-class island tourism services.

Developing heritage economy is not only a way for Quang Ninh to turn cultural and historical values into development resources, but also a way to preserve the memory, identity and soul of the land and people of the mining area. Each heritage that is preserved and promoted in the right direction will become a spiritual support, economic driving force and bridge to bring Quang Ninh to the world, realizing the aspiration for green and sustainable development, harmoniously connecting the past, present and future.

Luong Quang Tho

Source: https://nhandan.vn/phat-huy-gia-tri-di-san-van-hoa-tro-thanh-dong-luc-phat-trien-post909108.html