Quan Hoa - a land with great potential for developing the "smokeless industry" (Part 2): Soon turning tourism into a key economic sector

Quan Hoa district currently has 40 accommodation establishments with a capacity of about 600 people, including 20 homestays. In 2024, the district will welcome 30,000 visitors to tourist destinations in the area, with tourism revenue reaching 7.8 billion VND... This is a modest number compared to the district's tourism potential.

Co Phuong cave relic site in Say village, Phu Le commune is one of the spiritual tourist destinations of many visitors.

With great tourism potential, since 2019, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province has approved the Project "Developing community tourism in Quan Hoa district to 2025, vision to 2030". According to the project, the district strives to welcome 11,200 visitors by 2025, with an average growth rate of 25.7% per year; by 2030, the total number of community tourists will reach 24,700 visitors, with an average growth rate of 24.1% per year. Tourism will contribute to creating jobs for more than 500 workers by 2025 and 1,217 workers by 2030...

To achieve the above objectives, the project has built a series of priority groups of investment projects. These include: investment planning projects; tourism environmental resource protection projects; tourism product development investment projects; conservation and restoration of relics and tourism resources to promote cultural values ​​for tourism development; and community capacity building projects.

However, after 5 years of implementing the project, the current tourism competitiveness of Quan Hoa district is still low and has not changed much, the development process still has potential unsustainable factors. On the other hand, local tourism products are not diverse, lack specificity, do not have a strong identity, are not competitive in the region and internationally, do not have outstanding tourism brands; advertising and promotion work has not had a breakthrough change, not commensurate with the requirements of tourism development; the quality of tourism human resources is still limited. Investment funding for tourism is still low; development of transport infrastructure connecting to tourist areas and destinations has not received much investment; strategic planning and implementation of tourism development planning are still slow...

For example, the development of community tourism in But village, Nam Xuan commune, although implemented since 2020, with 5 households selected to develop homestay services, but up to now, no additional accommodation facilities have been developed, no households have registered to do tourism. The number of tourists to But village, although increasing over the years, is not significant, fluctuating around 1,000 visitors/year. Explaining the above limitations, Ms. Pham Thi Nhi, Vice Chairman of Nam Xuan Commune People's Committee, said: "Although the potential for community tourism in But village is very large, investment in tourism infrastructure as well as promotion and calling for businesses to invest here is still very limited. In order for community tourism in But village to develop further, we hope for investment in infrastructure items such as parking lots, restrooms, guest reception houses, traffic infrastructure as well as tourism promotion work".

Mr. Le Huu Quyet, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Quan Hoa district, said that after the Project "Developing community tourism in Quan Hoa district to 2025, with a vision to 2030" was issued and implemented, the COVID-19 epidemic broke out and greatly affected the investment and tourism development process of the district. Besides, in the process of implementing the project, many shortcomings were also revealed, especially the scattered investment planning that was no longer suitable to reality, leading to the low ability to exploit tourism development resources.

To overcome the above limitations, on February 27, 2024, the People's Committee of Quan Hoa district issued Document No. 18/TTr-UBND on requesting approval to develop the Project "Developing tourism in Quan Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province to 2030, with a vision to 2045" and Document No. 94/TTr-UBND dated July 8, 2024 on requesting the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to approve the outline and budget estimate to implement the task of adjusting the Project "Developing community tourism in Quan Hoa district to 2025, with a vision to 2030".

Coming to Quan Hoa, visitors will be immersed in the nature of mountains, forests, rivers and streams.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Dung, Chairman of Quan Hoa District People's Committee, said: "To promote the local tourism potential, in the coming time, the district will focus on innovating the promotion and attraction of tourists, opening training courses on community tourism knowledge, training skills and expertise for households doing community tourism. At the same time, focus on capital investment in tourism infrastructure; call on businesses to invest and build tours and tourist routes connecting with Pu Luong Eco-tourism Area (Ba Thuoc) and tourist spots and areas in Mai Chau District ( Hoa Binh ). The goal in 2025 is to complete the adjustment of the Project "Developing community tourism in Quan Hoa District to 2025, with a vision to 2030", striving for the targets of the number of visitors and revenue to exceed 2024".

"With synchronous solutions and local efforts, along with specific goals and roadmap for sustainable tourism development, building tourism into a spearhead economic sector, we believe that Quan Hoa district will become a fairly developed locality in the West of Thanh Hoa" - Mr. Dung expected.

Article and photos: Dinh Giang

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/quan-hoa-vung-dat-giau-tiem-nang-phat-trien-nganh-cong-nghiep-khong-khoi-bai-2-som-dua-du-lich-tro-thanh-nganh-kinh-te-mui-nhon-239932.htm