Hanoi (VNA) - Southern 🔯localities have undertaken a series of measures to fully tap the potential of sea and island tourism, which attracts approximately 70% of international tourists to Vietnam.

Boasting stunning beaches and unique local culture, southern provinces are an ideal choice for many tourists. However, the region’s coastal and island tourism has not been fully leveraged to its potential, said experts.

Stunning beaches

With its endless stretches of golden sand, and shimmering azure waters, Dam Trau Beach, which is 15km from the centre of Con Dao township to the North, is a "must-visit" destination in Con Dao, the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau. Located in the south of Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang province, Bai Sao beach is described as a beautiful painting amidst the countless stunning beaches in this area. Stretching over 7km, the beach possesses an extraordinarily peaceful and pure beauty. Travelers will have the chance to admire the towering coconut groves reaching toward the sea, as well as the majestic rock formations extending into the ocean. Dam Trau and Bai Sao are just two of the countless beautiful beaches in the southern region, which holds great advantages for sea and island tourism development. 

The southern region is home to many renowned destinations, such as the coastal city of Vung Tau in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, Ha Tien city and Phu Quoc island in Kien Giang province.

Notably, US Time magazine listed Phu Quoc Island among the top 100 best destinations to travel in the world in 2023.

The captivating natural beauty, iconic structures, and many unique and high-class travel experiences are the reasons why Phu Quoc has become a new destination that tourists from all over the world should visit at least once.

It can be said that the pristine and romantic natural beauty is the key to the first attraction of Phu Quoc.

The nature of Phu Quoc is characterized by overlapping mountains and hills with 28 small and large islands, 150 km of coastline, and 14 diverse beaches, many of which are honoured as the most beautiful beaches on the planet.

This place also has a mild climate with warm sunshine all year round, making it ideal for tourists and vacation trips at any time of the year.

In addition to Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Kien Giang, the coastal provinces of Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau have developed sea tourism products, including sightseeing, touring historical sites, and enjoying seafood specialties.

The Kien Giang and Mui Ca Mau (Ca Mau Cape) Biosphere Reserves, and the U Minh Ha, U Minh Thuong, Ca Mau Cape and Phu Quoc National Parks are attractive destinations to tourists who love to experience and explore pristine landscapes.

Efforts to create breakthroughs

Experts underlined the need to develop high-quality sea tourism centres meeting international standards, saying that this is one of the solutions contributing to creating breakthroughs in coastal tourism development in both the Southeastern and Mekong Delta regions.

Coastal localities should focus on investing in comprehensive infrastructജure development, including transportation, water supply and drainage, and waste treatment facilities, they said.

It is also essential to encourage various economic sectors to join coastal tourism development, they stressed, noting that promoting the privatisation of investment sources will help preserve scenic spots, develop traditional crafts, and revive local festivals.

Attention should be paid to developing modern entertainment areas and tourism products such as healthcare tourism, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) tours, and shopping tourism, they added.
 

To actualise these solutions, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province Nguyen Van Tho stated that the locality has concentrated on investing in improving transportation infrastructure to connect tourism sites in the locality.

Simultaneously, the province is collaborating with relevant ministries, sectors and localities to urgently improve transportation infrastructure for regional connections such as Bien Hoa-Vung Tau highway, Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Road 4 project; upgrading Con Dao Airport, constructing an international passenger port and an inland waterway system, among others.

The locality will also promote the development of urban areas, especially coastal tourism cities in accordance with a sustainable and green urban model with comprehensive and modern infrastructure, safe and healthy living environments.
Regional localities have been urged to i🌠ntensify environmental protection eff💝orts, and communication campaigns to raise public awareness of protecting the environment, ecosystem and biodiversity in tourism sites./.