Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the conference
Attending the conference were more than 500 delegates including leaders of the Party, the State, ministries, committees, central branches, 19 provinces, cities in the Central and Central Highland region, diplomatic representative agencies, international organizations, economic and tourism experts, and the press at central and local levels.
The Central - Central Highland region includes 19 provinces with a natural area of approximately 152,000 km2 and a population of more than 24 million people. With 1,870 km of coastline, more than 1,500 km of land border with Laos and Cambodia, Central – Central Highland region is a territory with quite diverse and abundant resources with outstanding potentials on sea, islands, deep-water bays, hills, lakes, cultural and historical heritages, border gates, etc. These characteristics allow for the development of a comprehensive economy with many key branches, especially tourism development.
Overview of the conference
The Central - Central Highland is also the gateway to the sea of the East - West economic corridor, and the territory stretches along the traveling route through Vietnam and through Asia. The Central - Central Highland holds a particularly important position on the Vietnam travel map. The whole region currently has 12 operating airports with 5 international airports. The seaport system has been upgraded with ten type 1 seaports, in which Chan May deep-water port in Thua Thien Hue has received the world's largest ship to dock.
It is also a place gathering many resources and potentials of tourism, in which the potential of sea and island tourism is considered a strong point with a chain of international-class beaches, many beautiful world-famous bays and attractive islands and peninsulas stretching from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan. Mountainous tourism resources with many famous eco-tourism sites, waterfalls and lakes are concentrated in the Highland provinces. In addition, the whole area also has 9 national parks and many pristine and intact nature conservation areas. Notably, this is also a place which gathers 9 world cultural heritages and is the residence of 47 ethnic groups - the owners who have been building up a museum of the most remarkable tangible and intangible culture of Vietnam today.
Mr. Phan Ngoc Tho, Chairman of Thua Thien Hue Provincial People's Committee, Chairman of the Central Region Economic Zone Council for the 2017-2018 term giving the opening speech
This conference aims to analyze and assess the potential and current status of tourism development in Central and Central Highland region; propose orientations, mechanisms, policies and breakthrough solutions to turn the Central and Central Highland tourism into a key economic sector. Besides, the conference also receives comments and discussions from ministries, departments, agencies, foreign diplomatic organizations, and domestic and international strategic investors, economic and tourism experts. The conference also evaluates the results of regional association activities and discusses the plans linking and developing the central key economic region in 2019 - 2020...
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Mr. Phan Ngoc Tho, Chairman of Thua Thien Hue People's Committee, Chairman of the Central Key Economic Zone for the 2017-2018 term, said, "If we wish to go fast, go alone. If we wish to go far, let’s go together.” This meaningful saying is the conclusion for the successes achieved from cooperation, cohesion and complementary development. Therefore, today, 19 provinces and cities in Central - Central Highland region jointly organize a Tourism Development Conference to build a further development vision for Central - Central Highland tourism, the strength of the localities in the region.
Story and photos: Quang Thanh