Promoting Maritime and Cultural Tourism

 

Phu Yen has a rich history and culture. The province is home to hundreds of historical and cultural relics and scenic spots, including 18 monuments and landscapes recognised nationally. Some relics, monuments and landmarks are associated with the names of historical luminaries. Specifically, Da Bia is tied to the legend of southern national expansion of King Le Thanh Tong; Luong Van Chanh Temple worships the founder of Phu Yen; Le Thanh Phuong Temple worships patriot Le Thanh Phuong; An Tho Citadel is the residence of Comrade Tran Phu, the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Besides, this region is known to have many very unique traditional festivals, folk songs and dances.

 

With this potential, Phu Yen province has mobilised a lot of resources for infrastructure construction investment to serve socioeconomic and tourism development. Typical projects include the dynamic coastal road from Tuy Hoa City to Da Dia Reef, roads from Tuy Hoa to Bai Mon - Vung Ro; National Road 1 to Da Dia Reef, Provincial Road 643 from Hoa Da to Phu Yen Base - an American War stronghold. The province also upgrades Tuy Hoa Airport to receive long-range airplanes like A320/A321.

 

The province has also upheld, preserved and promoted folk culture, traditional culture and cultural identities of ethnic groups. It has also invested to restore and preserve nationally recognized cultural and historical relics. The quantity and quality of tourism human resources is enhanced towards increased professionalism to better serve development needs. Many amusement parks and tourist attractions have been invested and operated. The number of hotels increases by 33 per cent a year. So far, Phu Yen province has 125 hotels with 2,551 suites, of which nearly 1,000 rooms meet 3-5-star standards.

 

The province pays attention to building up the tourism brand name “Phu Yen - Attractive and friendly destination.” Some tourist attractions and routes have been formed and opened for service. Tourism companies have also actively joined hands with each other to build sightseeing tours and maintain service quality. Hence, tourist arrivals grow 20 per cent a year, of which international tourist arrivals increase 40 per cent. In 2013, the province welcomed 600,000 visitors, including 60,000 international tourists. In the first six months of 2014, it served 412,000 visitors, including 38,000 international visitors, equal to 55 per cent of the full-year plan and up 24.8 per cent from the same period of 2013. Tourism revenue was estimated at VND370 billion, of which hotel revenue accounted for VND118 billion. Room occupancy rate reached 55 per cent.

 

According to the Master Plan for Phu Yen Social and Economic Development until 2020, approved by the Prime Minister, Phu Yen province will be built into a eastern gateway of the Central Highlands. The province is striving to become a tourist and service centre of the region and the country as a whole. It will set up a developed East-West transport network powered by railways, waterways, airways and roads. Mr Ho Van Tien, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Phu Yen, said, to attract tourists in the following years, Phu Yen will expand cooperation with other provinces and cities in the Southern Central Coast, particularly Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa province), Quy Nhon City (Binh Dinh province), Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces to attract Russian tourists and connect with Hue, Da Nang and Southeast provinces. The province will focus on cooperation with Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the two largest economic centres of the nation, to form long-day tours and attract tourists from the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. The province will also diversify tourism products.

 

According to the Vietnam Tourism Development Master Plan to 2020, with a vision to 2030, approved by the Prime Minister, Xuan Dai Bay of Phu Yen province has been planned to be one of 40 national tourist sites. Phu Yen province will endeavour to build a national tourist site in Xuan Dai Bay and surrounding areas by 2020. Besides, Tuy Hoa City and the vicinity will be developed into a major tourist destination on the national tourism route. The province will form some tourist attractions to support high-grade leisure tourism development.

 

Phu Yen province aims to diversify tourism products and develop theme-based tours like maritime tourism, cultural tourism, festival tourism, spiritual tourism, shopping tourism, adventure and discovery tourism.