Hundreds of local and foreign scientists, cultural activists and
heritage managers met on Saturday in the central province of Phu Yen to discuss
solutions to promote tourism in connection with cultural heritage in the central
coastal provinces.

Viet Nam should make the most of its 3,000km coastline, attendees at a tourism promotional event in Phu Yen heard. (Photo: VNS)

At an
international seminar held in Tuy Hoa City, participants highly valued southern
central coastal region from Da Nang to Binh Thuan for its a strong economy and
cultural heritage sites.

They
include the Sa Huynh (1,000BC-AD200) and Champa (AD400-1200) cultures;
archaeological sites of Go Da, Binh Chau, Dien Son, Binh Tay and Hon Tre; the
Khanh Son Stone music instrument, and Cham Heritage Well in Binh Dinh.

Traditional events such as the Cham ethnic group’s Kate festival in Ninh Thuan
and fish worshipping in Binh Thuan are among the hundreds of special cultural
festivities in the region, participants said.

In
addition, the region also has beautiful beaches ripe for potential tourism
development such as My Khe Beach in Da Nang, Cua Dai and Tam Thanh in Quang Nam,
Sa Huynh in Quang Ngai, and Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa, they said.

As a
result, tourism has become key economic sector for a number of localities such
as Da Nang, Hoi An and Mui Ne, said participants, adding a Heritage Road Tour in
the region had achieved initial result.

But
participants said that tourism development in the region lacked sustainability.

Nguyen
Van Luu, an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Training
Department, said the promotion of Viet Nam, particularly the central provinces
should be boosted through magazines, newspapers and cinema.

Participants also expressed their concern about the many valuable cultural
heritage sites in the region that have been damaged by war and during urban
development.

They
said this would seriously threatened cultural values and heritage.

To deal
with these problems, participants said relevant agencies and localities should
pay more attention to preservation of these cultural values and heritage in the
most sustainable way.

“Tourism
development should be key and based on this traditional cultural heritage,” Luu
said, adding that investment should be poured into infrastructure and
preservation of these heritage sites while the training of high-quality cultural
and tourism personnel should be made as a decisive factor for the tourism
development in the region until 2020.”

Pham
Trung Luong of the Viet Nam Institute for Research and Tourism Development said,
” We should be involved in managing sustainable resources and preservation of
cultural values and intangible heritage for the community.”

Provinces in the region should promote tourism while co-operating with others to
boost preservation and tap the local cultural heritage, Luong said.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News