Over the past 3 years, Binh Lieu has seen remarkable changes in tourism development. From an unknown land, to date, Binh Lieu has become one of the most-wanted destinations in Quang Ninh attracting a great number of visitors.
It is reported that, in 2015, Binh Lieu received around 33, 000 tourist arrivals while in the first seven months of 2018, the figure was estimated at nearly 44, 000.
Distintive advantages
Compared as a “miniature Sapa” of Quang Ninh, Binh Lieu district has a temperate climate and a diversified geography. It is bestowed with a variety of stunning natural landscapes, such as: Khe Van and Khe Tien waterfalls; the mountain tops of Cao Xiem, Cao Ba Lanh and Cao Ly, terraced fields…
Binh Lieu has a rich and diversified culture with its unique characteristics. It is home to a number of ethnic groups, namely Tay, Dao, San Chi, Hoa and Kinh with unique diversified cultural festivals, including Luc Na, Soong Co, Then singning, etc.
With outstanding natural advantages and unique cultural characteristics, Binh Lieu is highly appreciated with lots of potential for tourism development. However, one of the biggest difficulties facing the locality is poor services. Therefore, to promote its all outstanding values Binh Lieu needs to have robust measures to improve tourism infrastructure and services.
Attracting investment in tourism
Since 2015, tourism sector was determined as one of the new economic industries in Binh Lieu. Accordingly, the district has made greatefforts in alluring invesment in tourism, connecting with travel agents to tailor attractive tourism products, launching tourism routes and improving transport infrastrutcture…
As a result, in 2015, 3 tourism routes and 7 attractions in Binh Lieu were recognized by the Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee.
In recent years, Binh Lieu has focused on improving transport infrastructure, such as the border patrol road, the road to the boundary stone, the Dong Van-Khe Tien, Luc Ngu-Khe Tien and Na Ech-Khe Van roads were buit; all the road signs were also installed at tourism attractions in Binh Lieu.
The number of accommodation facilities in the district has increased. As reported, Binh Lieu currently has 17 accommodations with nearly 200 rooms. In addition, homestay tourism is effectively developed and many services are offered by the locals.
Local authorities puts high priority on tourism promotion and human resource training. In August of 2017, Binh Lieu established a tourism office – a hub to connect with travel agents and tour operators in Quang Ninh and Vietnam to promote Binh Lieu tourism and attract tourists to the district.
Although it gained positive achiemevents in tourism development, Binh Lieu has to cope with limitations. For instance, infrastrutcture has been improved however, it is not equal to tourism potential of the district. Tourists visiting Binh Lieu are low yield tourists and mailnly from the neighbouring localities.
According to Binh Lieu’s Chairwoman, it is very difficult to attract investment in tourism. To date, Binh Lieu hasn’t got any major tourism project. She added that policies to foster community-based tourism may need to be issued by the provincial government andthis is the vital factor to allure investment into Binh Lieu.
Article by Thu Nguyen
