With the theme "Meeting on the pink lotus land," the gathering of people from many beautiful national cultural identities at the Spring Festival 2011 in Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap province created great excitement for local residents and visitors. “It is an outstanding event to promote local tourism and attract investors in 2011,” said Mr Nguyen Huu Dung, Chairman of Cao Lanh City’s People’s Committee, in an interview with Vietnam Business Forum reporter Giang Tu.
This was the fourth time the Spring Festival has been organised in Cao Lanh City. How is the event different this year than in previous years?
This year’s festival both welcomed the New Year and honoured national cultures and traditions. Therefore, regional cultural symbols were elaborately presented. In addition, the festival also presented traditional cultural features like tea ceremony, calligraphy and gastronomy.
In particular, this Spring Festival fell on the founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam; thus both celebrating the Party and welcoming spring.
The four-day festival made a new impression on visitors with a wide range of arts performances and exhibitions. Most notably, visitors could witness the convergence of culture from three regions during this Spring Festival: Terraced fields from misty northwest, ancient mossy Cham towers from the central region, and floating markets of the southern region. Besides, there were also a range of cultural attractions such as cock fighting and cat beauty contests which left an unforgettable impression on visitors.
What does this festival mean to local tourism development?
Cao Lanh City in particular and Dong Thap province in general have a colourful history and many tourist attractions like Junior Doctor Nguyen Sinh Sac relic, Xeo Quyt, Cham Chim (bird sanctuary), Sa Dec Flower Garden and ancient houses. Ritual activities help attract more attention and interest in the local tourism industry.
The Cao Lanh Spring Festival 2011 created momentum for the development of tourism and gave investors a fresh look at the economic, cultural, and social potential of Cao Lanh - a rapidly growing city. At the same time, the organising board also wanted to develop the festival into a destination and a place of interest for local and surrounding citizens.
Together with many supporting activities, how will the tourism potential of Dong Thap province be brought into play in the coming years?
Dong Thap is home to beautiful tourist sites like Tam Nong Bird Sanctuary National Park, the home of red-headed cranes recorded in the World Red Book and Gao Giong eco-tourism site, called a miniature Dong Thap Muoi - with typical melaleuca trees, “ghost” rice (a rice fearing the sunlight), rushes, water lilies and cork, and rare creatures like the little cormorant and teals. Besides, this is a patriotic locality; there are many nationally rated historical and cultural relics like Junior Doctor Nguyen Sinh Sac relic, Go Thap site, and especially vestiges of Oc Eo culture of Phu Nam Kingdom.
In recent years, the city's tourism industry has also organised many exciting activities significantly contributing to the tourism development of the province. Dong Thap province tourism has become increasingly attractive to visitors when they visit the Mekong Delta.
Thus, the socio-economic effectiveness of the tourism industry is clear as it not only directly brings revenues to tourism companies, but also indirectly benefits related sectors and local citizens. In the coming time, together with provincial tourism promotion policies, the Dong Thap tourism industry is expected to make major leaps forward.
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