Nghe An (VNA) – Lying in the heart ofthe north central region and the East-West economic corridor linking Myanmar,Thailand, Laos and Vietnam with the East Sea, Nghe An province has great advantagesto develop tourism, heard a workshop in the province’s Cua Lo township on May16.

Director of the provincial Department of TourismNguyen Manh Cuong said Nghe An province has a coastline of 82km with stunningbeaches and more than 2,600 historical relic sites and natural landscapes. It is also home to six ethnic groupswith unique cultures, he said.

The Western Biosphere Reserve of Nghe An wasrecognised by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve thanks to its rich flora andfauna, Cuong added.

The province aims to become one of the largest tourism centres inthe north-central region by 2030, the official stressed.

To realise this goal, the tourism sector willbuild brand names for local tourism products and seek to draw investmentprojects in resort and ecological tourism development while connecting with thechain of products in the north-central and north-south central regions andother tourism centres at home and abroad, he revealed.

By 2020, Nghe An expects to lure over 5 milliontourists, including 170,000 foreigners and gross 10 trillion VND (440.5 millionUSD) in revenues, contributing 5-6 percent to the province’s gross regionaldomestic product (GRDP) and creating jobs for over 30,000 workers.

The tourism industry is hoped to become aspearhead economy of the province by 2030 with revenues contributing 9-10percent to the GRDP, Cuong added.

To help NgheAn fully tap its tourism potential, participants at the workshop suggested theprovince encourage domestic and foreign businesses and economic sectors toinvest in tourism infrastructure and human resources training.

As road travelling through Laos, Cambodia andThailand has been developing in recent years, Nghe An should take advantage of theshared borderline with Laos to enhance connectivity and create diverse tourismproducts.

The peak of tourism in Nghe An often starts inApril and ends in October annually. Theprovince should promote various forms of tourism such as marine tourism,cultural tourism, historical tourism and spiritual tourism to attract moreholidaymakers.

At the workshop, the provincial People’sCommittee signed strategic cooperation agreements with Vietravel andSaigontourist, two of the leading tourism companies in the country.-VNA