Vinh Hy Bay in Ninh Thuan province (photo: VOV)

Ninh Thuan has a 100-km coast that stretches from Binh Tien to Ca Na. Its natural features and culture are advantages for tourism development. Warm, sunny weather all year round makes Ninh Thuan suitable for growing grapes, apples, garlic, asparagus, and aloe vera, and raising sheep and goats. Its fruitful orchards and sheep farms attract lots of tourists.

Between high mountain ranges and the sea are white sand beaches. Famous destinations in Ninh Thuan include Ninh Chu, Binh Tien, and Ca Na beach, Nam Cuong sand dune, Dinh cape, and Rai cave. Vinh Hy bay is said to be one of the eight most beautiful beaches in Vietnam.

Nature has bestowed on Ninh Thuan a great advantage for developing ecotourism and resorts – forests and seas containing a biodiversity of rare plant and animal species, including sea turtles. Nui Chua National Park is one of the world’s biosphere reserves in Vietnam.

In recent years, Ninh Thuan’s tourism sector has developed in a green, clean, sustainable direction and attracted some large-scale investment projects. Tourism facilities are increasing in quantity and quality. Many new types of tourism have been introduced to attract more domestic and foreign tourists.

The province now has a number of world-class resorts including Binh Tien, Vinh Hy, Long Thuan Hoan My, Sailing Bay Ninh Chu. New urban areas have been built, creating a new appearance for Phan Rang-Thap Cham city.

Nguyen Minh Hieu, General Director of Hon Co-Ca Na resort, said: “Our company invested in Ninh Thuan province because of its potential and qualified human resources. The provincial authority offers investors many incentives while functional departments and sectors help us get business permits and procedures. Ninh Thuan province fully supports businesses with a “one-stop shop” policy so that we can start construction and begin operations as quickly as possible.”

With a new vision and roadmap, Ninh Thuan is focusing on exploiting tourism resources and connecting its tourist attractions with destinations in neighboring provinces. Ninh Thuan is concentrating on developing four tourism products: sea resorts, cultural tourism (especially Cham cultural heritages), high-tech agriculture, and ecotourism associated with Nui Chua National Park.

Nui Chua National Park, one of the world’s biosphere reserves in Vietnam (photo: Doan Si)

The province has developed 4 new products: exploration entertainment, semi-wild hunting, experiential travel, and nursing and health care. Other complementary tourism products are community entertainment tours, culinary tours, tours of renewable energy production facilities, and commercial services.

Pham Van Hau, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Council, said: “The unique values of culture, people, and semi-desert natural conditions in Ninh Thuan have created tourism attractions. If Ninh Thuan collaborates with Lam Dong, Khanh Hoa, and Binh Thuan to build a cluster of national brands in tourism, they will make an attractive and competitive brand in the future.”

Ninh Thuan will develop its tourism in four zones. The central space is Phan Rang-Thap Cham city and surrounding areas. It offers tours of the city’s heritages, beach resorts, cuisine, and night-time entertainment services. The Northeast area offers marine, forest, and agricultural ecotourism, mainly in the Vinh Hy, Binh Tien, Nui Chua and Thai An areas. This area plans to offer high-end tourism tied to the local specialties of grape products and wine.

The Southeast zone focuses on resort tourism and exploration of sand dunes, salt fields, and sea tours in the Ca Na and Mui Dinh areas. It targets the high-end tourist segment with salt resort tourism products and desert-style resorts. The western area is developing community tourism and forest eco-tourism.

Tran Quoc Nam, Chairman of the Ninh Thuan provincial People's Committee said: “With a long-term vision of tourism development, we’ve building high-end tourism complexes and resorts and creating open spaces for public activites along the coast. Sectors have created tourism development roadmaps to submit to the provincial Party Committee and collect opinions from local people and tourists.”

Ninh Thuan province aims to make tourism a spearhead economic sector by improving both the scale and quality of services.

It has accelerated the implementation of 22 key tourism projects and built new attractive products and services to induce tourists to stay longer. Ninh Thuan has accelerated digital transformation of tourism activities and developed high-end services to enhance its position on Vietnam's tourism map.

Vinh Phong - VTC