It's time for cave tourism in Ninh Binh

Cave tourism, especially in the Trang An site in the world heritage complex, is one of the focuses of tourism in Ninh Binh province in the time to come.

Not only an ecological tourism destination, In the near future, Ninh Binh will focus on the utilization and development of the cave tourism on the basis of its 230 cave. This was confirmed by Hoang Thanh Phong, Deputy Director of the Tourism Department of the province.

Small in the natural area of only 1,400 square kilometres, yet Ninh Binh boasts huge potential and advantages in the field of tourism, both natural and man-made.

 Prominent tourism products of Ninh Binh now are ecological and spiritual, including those in Trang An, Tam Coc-Bich Dong, Van Long, Cuc Phuong, ancient capital Hoa Lu, Bai Dinh and Phat Diem rock church. Provincial authorities are now focusing on a new product: cave tourism in the Trang An complex and other destinations, especially the bird sanctuary in Thung Nham, according to Phong.

A bird's eye view of Bai Dinh pagoda complex.

The official further elaborated that Ninh Binh is home to more than 230 caves of different sizes, 60 percent of them water.

Right from 2017, the department started to provide consultation to the provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in building a programme on the national tourism year, Phong said, adding that recently, the committee sent a delegation to Quang Ninh province to lean experiences in organzing the national tourism year.

"We hope to create differences," Phong said, elaborating that differences will be made in the contents to be more attractive.

The development of community-based and agriculture-base tourism will enjoy more attention, the official said, adding that for Ninh Binh province, tourism development will be closely associated with the building of the new-style rural areas. This can be clearly seen in the case of the Trang An complex, in which farmers have shifted from agriculture to tourism. "Boat rowing services alone have provided jobs for over 3,000 local workhands in 20 communes, with stable income," Phong said.

In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the official said his department has provided consultations to the Ninh Binh provincial People's Committee on the reduction of the use of disposable plastic products, as well as the saving of electricity and water. At the tourist sites, visitors are advised to reduce the use of plastic bags and bottles, he added.

Ninh Binh is among the leading localities in the country in the application of the 4.0 technology in tourism development, Phong asserted. In the province, tourists can access information of their destinations, food and accommodation services, how to visit, etc., through their mobile phones. Smart tourism services will be strengthened in the future, he added.

However, the official also admitted that tourism infrastructure in the province has yet to enjoy concerted investment, while the human resources in this field are still poor and insufficient.

"Ninh Binh youths do not completely want to do tourism," he said, adding that students, after their education, often look for stable jobs with high incomes and the mushrooming of industrial zones in the province has become a magnet to them.

In the time to come, the tourism sector of Ninh Binh will provide consultations to the provincial People's Committee to work out plans on the human resources training and policies to attract to and keep graduates in the field, while helping localities in the province to develop tourism-related services.

"We are striving to make every Ninh Binh local a tourism ambassador so that visitors will have fine impressions when they come to the province in particular and Vietnam in general", Phong said.

 (Source: VNA)