Sunset on Thuan An Beach
The considerable challenge
Experts say that Hue is already a destination for sea tourism, a part of the group of central coastal cities, such as Dong Hoi, Da Nang, Hoi An, Tam Ky, Quy Nhon, Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang...
According to Mr. Dinh Manh Thang, Chairman of the Tourism Association, sea tourism is setting high expectations as the city is expanded. Once it has become a city unit, sea tourism will have more opportunities and be easier to build brands. Sea resort, sea entertainment as the counterweight, in combination with cultural and heritage sightseeing, will be the new boost for the ancient capital's tourism industry.
However, for Hue's sea tourism in the coming time to fully develop, there will still be many challenges. First of all, the area of clean land for tourism development is not large enough. Especially for Thuan An, the section from Lapochine Beach Resort to the estuary area is densely populated.
To operate services on these important locations requires large resources to implement site clearance and the whole infrastructure routes to be connected. Especially the bridge between Thuan An and Hai Duong, there is also a construction plan but the specific time has not been determined yet.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thuan, Director of Dai Bang Tourism Joint Stock Company, assessed that, for a long time, Thuan An or Hai Duong beach mainly attracted only domestic tourists, and tourists had very few options, except for those resorts with their own high-class guests. Services develop in the direction of individual households, making the product quality not yet excellent and simple. Therefore, it is necessary to have an itinerary to improve the quality of products and services with popular tourism brands.
Mr. Vo Le Nhat, Chairman of Hue City People's Committee affirmed that in the city's socio-economic development plan when expanding the city area, sea tourism is one of the spearheads that is identified as development priorities. These product-enhancing challenges are not small, but the city will be determined to solve them and investing sufficient resources to implement the planned solutions.
Detailed planning is required
Mr. Tran Huu Thuy Giang, Director of the Department of Tourism, says that when expanding the city area, it is necessary to have a new plan for tourism. If not, at least there should be projects and specific plans for long-term and systematic development. In the planning, it is necessary to clearly define the area that needs to attract investors with high-quality services; as well as community area, with more affordable services…
According to an expert, in planning, we should avoid the previous "pitfall" in many localities, that even Lang Co has stumbled in, because the land area near the sea was almost entirely reserved for investors. There were not many community beaches; service activities included only resorts, being unable to create chain services for sea tourism.
According to this expert, Khanh Hoa is a coastal city that Hue can learn from, because this city builds the road along the sea as a separation line between the sea and hotels, resorts. Therefore, anyone can swim in the sea.
Ms. Pham Thi Quynh Dao, Head of Hue Information and Culture Office said that the city has been in the process of rushing to survey and evaluate all types of tourism and destinations when the city is expanded, especially sea tourism. From the specific data after the survey, there will be analysis and evaluation to come up with development strategies with long-term orientation.
Attracting investors
Attracting tourism investors to exploit services and raise the quality standard of sea tourism is a must. Appropriate mechanisms and policies, along with good planning are said to be two factors that would help Hue city soon attract potential investors.
According to the Department of Tourism, it is necessary to soon construct a coastal road, connecting Hai Duong with Thuan An. In addtion to that, there should be more routes from the city center to the sea.
Good commuting infrastructure will be a necessary condition for investors to come to Hue. Along with that, essential infrastructure such as electricity, water ... also plays an important role. This first requires investment from the Government.
In the process of developing sea tourism, the connection from the center to the sea by the destinations such as Thanh Tien, Dam Chuon, Ru Cha ... will shorten the distance in space and time between the two places. This indicates that the above destinations need a relative development investment.
Mr. Dinh Manh Thang adds that in such development, Hue city’s sea will be the center, having a connection with neighboring sea areas. To the North, it is possible for Hue sea to connect with Quang Cong and Quang Ngan sea; to the south, with Phu Thuan, Vinh Xuan, Vinh Thanh, to create satellite destinations and increase the scale of sea tourism, and along with that is with the route to Phu Bai International Airport. At the satellite spots, there wil be other kind of services such as golf, casino...
According to the Investment Law 2020, in order to attract investment in the tourism sector, a zoning plan is required. Given the reality of Hue city's sea tourism, in the immediate future, this regulation may pose some obstacles in attracting investment, but in the long time when there are specific and detailed plans with reasonable arrangements for the process, sea tourism will develop methodically in the right direction.
Story and photo: Duc Quang