Dak Lak (VNA) – The Central Highlands holdsgreat potential for cultural and ecological tourism, but local provinces stillneed to work harder to develop these types of tourism effectively andsustainably, heard a national workshop on November 15.

The Central Highlands consists of the fiveprovinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong.

At the event, held in Buon Ma Thuot city of DakLak, participants said the region is home to enormous resources, from land,forests, temperate climate to biodiversity in such national parks as Chu YangSin (Dak Lak), Kon Ka Kinh (Gia Lai), Chu Mom Ray (Kon Tum) and Bidoup Nui Ba(Lam Dong). It also boasts unique tangible and intangible cultural heritageslike festivals and the space of gong culture of ethnic minorities like Ede,M’Nong, Ba Na, Xe Dang, Jarai and K’ho.

All have contributed to the huge potential fordeveloping cultural and ecological tourism, they noted.

However, participants also pointed to the factthat Central Highlands provinces have yet to capitalise on these types oftourism, and there are certain shortcomings relevant to tourism developmentconnectivity, transport infrastructure, value chains of tourism products andenvironmental protection.

Dr Nguyen Huy Phong from the Ho Chi MinhNational Academy of Politics said the Central Highlands is home to uniquetangible and intangible cultural heritages that cannot be found anywhereelse. 

To tap into local tourism potential, theprovinces should boost cultural heritage preservation, encourage localresidents to engage in community-based tourism, and raise all-levelauthorities’ awareness of the role of cultural and ecological tourism insocio-economic development, he suggested.

Meanwhile, Dr Le Van Nghia from the politicaland internal affairs board of the Dak Lak provincial Party Committee said eachprovince needs mechanisms and policies matching their specific conditions. Thelocalities should boost administrative reforms to facilitate investment intourism development. They also need to create typical tourism products liketraditional festivals and tours to experience the life of local ethnicminorities so as to attract visitors.

Stressing the importance of sustainability incultural and ecological tourism, Dr Vu Thinh Truong from the Ho Chi MinhCity-based Van Hien University noted tourism development should not be leftuncontrolled, or it could lead to the disintegration of traditional culturalvalues.

The provinces need to have systematic plans sothat tourism can generate economic benefits while still helping to preserve andbring into play cultural identities of local ethnic groups, he added./.