Opportunities and Progress of Haiphong Tourism Sector
The bountiful natural resources, labour forces, improved infrastructure and sound orientation of Haiphong's leaders have played a decisive role in the advances made by the city’s tourism sector over the past five years. The growth is seen as a premise and an opportunity for Haiphong’s tourism sector to fulfil its target of becoming the tourism centre of the northern coastal region.
Haiphong is a seaport city located in the heart of the Northern coastal region. It comprises ocean, peninsula, forests, islands and mountains mixed with the plain and kaster topography, creating a forest-ocean-island eco-system suitable for eco-tourism on the Do Son peninsula and Cat Ba archipelago. Haiphong's tourism potential is rich in State-ranked historical, revolutionary, cultural and architectural vestiges, and national festivals as well.
Creating infrastructure for tourism enables investors from all economic sectors to run effective tourism and services businesses. Therefore, Haiphong’s Department of Tourism has injected investment of over VND360 billion (US$22.9 million) into eight large-scale projects during the 2001-2004 period, which have drawn the attention of numerous investors.
As many as 21 non-State-invested projects with total investment of around VND1.5 trillion (US$95.5 million) have so far received the city's approval. The proliferation of tourism activities added impetus to social development and municipal economic structure transfer, the augmentation of consumption demand and branches of fisheries, trade, culture, industry, construction, post and telecommunications, and other sectors.
In 2003, the Haiphong tourism sector saw thoroughfare of 1.7 million people, a rise of 16 per cent against 2002, fulfilling 100 per cent of the target set for the year. Of this, foreign tourists numbered 390,000.
The sector had turnover of VND400 billion (US$25.5 million) in 2003, up 11 per cent on-year. In 2003, Haiphong tourism sector succeeded in enhancing professional and management skills, tourism promotion, and deploying infrastructure projects, at the same time boosting the privatisation process and helping sectorial enterprises to further their tourism activities.
At present, the Haiphong Department of Tourism is setting up a tourism association to enable all types of tourism businesses to work together and develop. Haiphong's tourism sector targets to reduce unnecessary operating expenses and continually improve the quality of its services to fortify its competitiveness during the regional and international integration process.
The Haiphong Tourism Department Director, Tran Trung Dung said: "Haiphong owes its tourism success to a confluence of good weather, favourable terrain and a united people for rapid and sustainable development. We are not only investing in infrastructure to create a fresh image for the sector, we are also focusing on professional training and disseminating cultural knowledge, which is of great significance in tourism. We are combining the expansion of cultural and eco-tourism businesses with schemes to preserve the purity of fascinating natural and cultural landscapes".
This is an appropriate development direction for Haiphong tourism in order to make the city a number one destination in the northern coastal region.
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