The first National External Information Service Awards offers a uniquechance for the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang topopularise the image of Dong Van stone plateau among domestic andforeign visitors.

The plateau was recognised as amember of the Global Network of National Geoparks in 2010, becomingVietnam ’s first geological park and the second in Southeast Asia .

The park covers over 2,000 square kilometres, stretching across QuanBa, Yen Minh, Dong Van and Meo Vac districts with a population of250,000 from 17 different ethnic groups.

In recentyears, the province has organised a number of exhibitions and workshopsto develop the plateau and thousands of articles about the geologicalpark have been published on mass media.

The number of travellers to the plateau surged to nearly 100,000 last year from over 62,000 in 2011.

Director of the park’s management board Nguyen Le Huy said the plateauwas an untouched area and barely known before being recognised as aglobal geological park.

Looking forward, theprovince will launch a contest for local students, simultaneouslypromoting external information for heritage preservation and sustainabletourism development.

The National ExternalInformation Service Awards 2014, which is chaired by the Vietnam NewsAgency, is open to press agencies, ministries, sectors and localities,and representative agencies of Vietnam abroad, Vietnam’s friendshiporganisations, foreigners and overseas Vietnamese.-VNA