Ninh Binh eyes marine tourism

Attracting international tourists

Ninh Binh has attracted lots of visitors thanks to a series of historical and cultural heritage sites, especially the UNESCO-recognized Trang An Landscape Complex and Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve. The former is a masterpiece of lime stones, grottoes and valleys while the latter is the largest reserve of its type in the north and home to the largest community of Delacour's langur.

Last year, the province welcomed six million tourists including 600 international visitors, which was considered failing to meet its expectation. In its tourism development plan until 2020, Ninh Binh targets to earn some VND3 trillion through tourists from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and some other European, American and Asian countries. French tourists are increasingly fond of Ninh Binh and currently account for 50 percent of the province's total foreign tourist number.

The Ninh Binh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and 10 ASEAN countries jointly researched and developed suitable tourism products for the province. In addition, it is implementing a tourism promotion plan in cooperation with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, travel companies and several international firms including Japan-based NKH and US-based CNN, said Deputy Director of the Ninh Binh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Thanh Phong.

Marine tourism development in focus

Ninh Binh has the beautiful 18km-long Kim Son Beach and 5km-long Con Noi coastal area with the potential to become an attractive future destination based on the local perse ecology including 500 animal and plant species.

In addition, it also focused on large projects including a wildlife park, Kenh Ga-Van Trinh Resort and a 4,155ha Con Noi Marine Tourism Zone which is scheduled to be completed by 2021.

Ninh Binh would focus on marine and religious tourism development and Con Noi Marine Tourism Zone was designed to meet national and international standards, Hoang Thanh Phong said at a seminar on developing tourism products for Ninh Binh.

Translated by Nguyen Thuy