Ninh Van commune in Ninh Hoa town holds significant potential for community tourism development in Khanh Hoa province

In early 2024, Khanh Hoa made outstanding achievements on the economic map of the North Central and Central Coast regions, especially in tourism. What lessons has the province learned from the above successes?

In recent years, Khanh Hoa's tourism industry has witnessed both upside and downside development. Endowed with advantageous natural conditions, Khanh Hoa's tourism sector has kept growing strongly. Right in early 2024, the province adopted a series of tourism promotion programs in China (Shanghai and Zhejiang), Kazakhstan, Thailand and other countries; welcomed foreign business delegations and travel agencies to explore Khanh Hoa tourism (from South Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries); coordinated with Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association, local tourism businesses and airlines to research and develop tour programs, promotional travel packages, preferential prices to stimulate demand and attract tourists to Khanh Hoa; and worked with Vietjet Air to propose opening direct international flights to Khanh Hoa.

The province successfully organized a series of events to welcome summer 2024, featured by two outstanding programs: (1) Nha Trang Sea Tourism Festival 2024 (June 13 - 16, 2024) with 200 tourism, trade and culinary booths in an open space designed to facilitate people and tourists to access and participate and nearly 30 activities and events, including a carnival light parade program to promote Khanh Hoa tourism, a workshop on sustainable Khanh Hoa tourism and hotel development, Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Culinary Festival 2024, and Nha Trang H-Marathon; and (2) Nha Trang International Light Bay Festival 2024 - the world's first drone light performance program (July 13, 2024 in Square 2/4 and August 3, 2024 at Festival Square, Vinpearl Harbor, Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang City). The event was carefully invested in performance contents of four competing teams from South Korea, France, China and the UAE and featured professional, colorful performance techniques with the most advanced equipment technology (drone): Pyrotechnic Drone, Super Light Drone and Super Bright Drone.

Following these successes, Khanh Hoa aimed to attract 15.5 million tourists with stay by 2030, including 8 million international visitors. The province expected to keep an average annual tourist growth of 5-10% and have 90,000 commercial accommodation rooms, with about 75% graded 3-5 star class. The tourism sector will create over 250,000 jobs. Thus, Khanh Hoa province has also gradually focused on investing in infrastructure like both banks of Cai River for tourism development, riverside food streets, walking streets and night markets. Developing smart tourism is a core factor by accelerating the progress of information technology application to tourism, based on digital economy platforms and global technological achievements in the world. The province aimed to develop community tourism, linked with the development of cultural tourism and traditional craft villages to bring valuable experiences.

Over the years, Khanh Hoa has always developed tourism together with preserving local cultural identity. Would you be kind enough to tell us more about this?

Not only blessed with natural advantages, Khanh Hoa is also known as an exchanging place of Central Highlands culture, maritime culture, Cham culture and others, very good for tourism development. Notably, popular relics and tangible cultural heritages include Ponagar Tower in Nha Trang together with unique Cham temples built for centuries, Dien Khanh Citadel and Ninh Hoa Palace. In addition, the province is home to unique festivals like Fish Worshipping Festival, Ponagar Tower Festival in Nha Trang and especially Nha Trang Sea Festival held every two years.

The effective exploitation of cultural heritage values is always coupled with preservation and restoration. Accordingly, the tourism sector defines important contents, with a focus on solutions to mobilize, manage and use resources and raising public awareness of relics in the province. The province provides relic knowledge and skills for people, directly preserves relics, guides tourists to visit relics, practices eco-tourism experiences, and encourages the creation of locally distinctive products.

Green tourism is the current trend, a sustainable direction. How has Khanh Hoa pursued this?

Green tourism, green and sustainable growth are key trends of international, regional, national tourism and all tourist destinations. Green tourism is operated in a way that minimizes environmental impacts, actively contributes to biodiversity conservation, uses renewable energy, promotes natural and cultural heritages, and develops environmentally friendly products. Not only playing an important role in protecting the environment and resources, but developing green tourism also brings new values to tourism products and helps enhance economic performance and maintain long-term and sustained exploitation.

Although green tourism transformation has been recognized to have made progress, green tourism development remains inconsistent and fragmented. Therefore, localities and Vietnam have not yet formed a green tourism system. Hence, to realize the concept of green tourism in practice, Khanh Hoa province always focuses on three main contents: green tourism management based on institutions, policies, strategies and plans for green tourism development; creation of green tourism products and services; and green tourism consumption.

Known to have much room for community tourism development, what are the initial successes of the above work that the province has made? Would you be kind enough to tell us about the positive values of digital application on tourism development?

Recently, the province has adopted many policies on community tourism development. Currently, Khanh Hoa aims to expand the tourism development space to the west of Nha Trang City, Dien Khanh, Khanh Son and Khanh Vinh districts, with priority given to investing in developing community tourism categories. To date, the Provincial People's Committee has chosen two potential places for community tourism development, namely Tram Huong Xoi craft village, Van Thang commune, Van Ninh district and Ninh Van commune, Ninh Hoa town. These places have invested in services, trained human resources, provided financial support for beneficiaries, and announced destinations to promote and attract tourists.

Promoting their initial results, in the coming time, localities will continue to survey and select potential locations and models for community tourism development to register and propose the Department of Tourism for evaluation and submission to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration and recognition. At the same time, they will organize delegations to acquire experience in community tourism development in other southern provinces and cities; organize conferences on 4-year implementation of Resolution 06/2022/NQ-HDND, and gradually remove difficulties and obstacles in building and developing community tourism models in the province. Regarding information technology application and digital transformation in tourism, the Department of Tourism always steps up tourism communications, promotion and information and boosts interactions with tourists via its websites like nhatrang-travel.com.vn and sdl.khanhhoa.gov.vn and on social networking platforms like Facebook and Zalo Official. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the tourism sector is expected to put into operation the Tourist Support Information Operation Center.

Khanh Hoa will strive to create a friendly, professional, effective environment, and quickly meet public and business needs. At the same time, the province will preserve and promote cultural identity, develop supporting industries and occupations and link inter-regional tourism routes towards sustainable tourism and responsible tourism.

Thank you very much!