Kien Giang Province Taps Tourism Potentials

 

Kien Giang has a famous tourist site - Ha Tien, in the South-West corner of Vietnam. In ancient times, it was an important meeting place of scholars. Now in the time of economic integration, Ha Tien is a wonderful land for economic planners, especially tourism investors. New ideas for investment projects continue to be put into action, the North Ha Tien urban area has been followed by the South Fortress tourist site. In the future, it will become an urban area surrounded by green parks and artificial islets, beaches and resorts, a water sport centre, commercial and service centre. South Ha Tien urban area will also be built with tours to the islands of Pirates, Ba Lua and Phu Quoc, linked with Dong Ho, Ha Giang and Tam Ngan tourist sites.

 

2004 was a successful year of investments in the development of infrastructure, hotels, transport facilities, recreation services and eco-tourism. 52 new guest houses and hotels were built in Phu Quoc and Ha Tien, double the number in 2003. Four new travel companies started operating increasing the total number to 10. From Phu Quoc Island, there are five daily high-speed boat trips to the mainland and Hon Chong Island. The province has made an additional investment of VND34.4 billion in the development of its tourism infrastructure. As a result, the number of tourists to Kien Giang has increased by 31 per cent over the last year. Among 1.8 million tourists visiting Kien Giang, there were 48,000 foreign tourists (an increase of 61 per cent).

 

According to Kien Giang Department of Tourism, in 2005, tourist sites will be built in Ha Tien and Kien Luong to attract more investments in the province. Cultural projects will be promoted such as ethnic cultural village in Mui Nai tourist site, a miniature of the landscapes of Rach Gia, Ha Tien, Phu Quoc, the battlefield of General Nguyen Trung Truc, cultural programmes, poems of Tao Dan and Dong Ho, and the famed gastronomy of the region.

 

According to the development plan until 2010 and vision to 2020 approved by the Prime Minister, Phu Quoc will be developed into a high-class eco-tourism centre of the region. To keep pace with the development of Phu Quoc, Ha Tien town. Kien Luong district and surrounding areas will become tourist centres of the province. To this end, resources must be mobilised for the development of infrastructure and services including the training of tourist guides with good knowledge in history and foreign languages. Scholarships should be granted to good students including training abroad. In addition, the province should hire good foreign managers and experts for on-the-job training to meet the pressing demand.

 

By 2020, it is hoped that Ha Tien will become a city of sea tourism and play an important role in the economic integration of the province.