Quang Tri province is a land with many historical and cultural relics, invaluable resources to preserve, embellish, serve the exploitation and development of tourism at the right level to attract more and more tourists. This is a very convincing direction that Quang Tri province is implementing and determined to successfully implement.
Tourists visit the Hien Luong - Ben Hai National Special Relic - Photo: TU LINH
Director of the Quang Tri Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Minh Tuan said that in order for the country to be peaceful, unified, and the country to be reunited, generations of Vietnamese have fallen on the heroic land of Quang Tri. Currently, the province has 72 martyrs' cemeteries with more than 55,300 martyrs' graves, including 2 national martyrs' cemeteries. Not to mention "cemeteries without graves", where the bodies of soldiers have turned into soil and rivers.
History left on Quang Tri land more than 500 historical and cultural relics at all levels have been planned, preserved and developed with many places being famous destinations not only domestically but also stirring the conscience of peace-loving humanity such as Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, Doc Mieu, Hien Luong-Ben Hai riverbanks, Vinh Moc Tunnel, Road 9, Khe Sanh, Ta Con Airbase, etc.
At the Special National Relic of Hien Luong-Ben Hai riverbanks, we met tourist Nguyen Thi Trang Thu from Hanoi. She said that she had visited many places but had never had a place where she had as many emotions as when learning about the peace story of the people of Quang Tri, the most unique symbol of which is Hien Luong Bridge across Ben Hai River. This time she came to Quang Tri to attend the 2024 Festival for Peace, witnessing the historical Hien Luong Bridge relic, she crossed the bridge from the North bank to the South bank with a feeling of respect in her heart.
Head of the Management Board of the Hien Luong - Ben Hai Special National Relic Le Thi To Hoai said: These days, many domestic and foreign tourists have come to visit the relic. The historical stories of Hien Luong Bridge, Ben Hai River, and the images of the Festival for Peace have made visitors admire and respect the indomitable spirit and loyalty of the people of Quang Tri, as well as the people of the whole country in the struggle for national independence and understand more deeply the value of peace.
Along with the Hien Luong - Ben Hai Special National Relic, other major relics in the area such as: Quang Tri Ancient Citadel Special National Relic, Ta Con Airbase National Relic, Vinh Moc Tunnel Special National Relic, ,etc not only meet the needs of traditional and cultural education for the people, but also create unique destinations for tourists.
With such important values of the relics, the province clearly identifies the construction of the above destinations into special tourism products, which are experiences of historical and cultural relics. The development of tourism at historical and cultural relics associated with tours and routes is always of interest to the province.
Especially with the 2024 Festival for Peace with the theme "Joining hands to build a peaceful world" organized by the province for the first time, it is a national-scale program reaching international level, contributing to spreading the image of Quang Tri; at the same time, elevating the annual July gratitude festival. The biggest goal of the festival is to promote the image of Quang Tri on the domestic and foreign tourism map, creating great attraction for Quang Tri tourism to develop with many different types of tourists.
The effect of the festival on tourism is very large. According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in the first half of July 2024, there were approximately 712,000 visitors to Quang Tri, an increase of more than 105% over the same period last year. There were more than 273,000 specialized visitors, with estimated social revenue of more than VND 577 billion. The opening night of the Festival for Peace attracted more than 45,000 visitors; at the "Taste of the Land of Sunny Flowers" culinary festival, there were more than 32,000 visitors.
In the first six months of 2024, the number of visitors to Quang Tri is estimated at more than 1.4 million, an increase of 20% over the same period last year, of which international visitors are estimated at more than 110,000. Social revenue is estimated at more than VND 1,062 billion, of which specialized revenue is estimated at VND 471 billion. Obviously, the policy of exploiting the potential and advantages of historical and cultural relics to develop tourism that the province is implementing is the right and convincing direction.
Director of the Provincial Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion AgencyNguyen Duc Tan said that in order to exploit the strengths of historical and cultural relics to promote tourism development to serve economic growth and social stability, the Provincial People's Council issued Resolution No. 167/NQ-HDND dated December 9, 2021 on investment in conservation and prevention of degradation of the historical and cultural relic system of Quang Tri province in the period of 2022-2025, linking investment, restoration with protection, management, exploitation and promotion of values so that the image of the relics will spread more and more to tourists.
According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Tan, although Quang Tri province has had many policies to invest in and exploit tourism products from historical and cultural relics in the past, in addition to the tours and routes being implemented, there is still a lack of new products worthy of the potential.
To better exploit the values of historical and cultural relics, there needs to be new and unique ways to attract more and more tourists. There needs to be good policy, mechanisms and a tourism team that is commensurate with the potential to link with provinces and cities in the country to promote existing values.
IPA
