A special performance was staged on August 14’s night in Dong Hoi city in the central province of Quang Binh to kick off a festival aimed at promoting local tourism. The one-week festival, themed “Quang Binh – Kingdom of the Caves”, will feature the launch of new discovery tours to untouched caves, the "bottomless" lake Xuyen Son Ho inside Phong Nha Cave, and the mysterious Dark Cave. Promotions and trips will be held during the event, which is part of efforts to promote local culture, tourism and the giant caves to international and domestic investors and tourists. The festival also includes a fair which offers local specialities and signature products of Quang Binh's traditional villages. Also at the opening ceremony, representative of the UNESCO granted a certificate to Quang Binh's Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, recognising it as a world heritage site for the second time, thanks to its "stunning biological diversity" and "resplendent landscape". Located in Bo Trach district, the 123-ha park is home to nearly 2,934 species of fauna and flora. Also on August 14, a conference on Quang Binh's tourist promoting and investment boosting was held, gathering more than 350 participants, including Vietnam’s leading economic experts, investors, and representatives of domestic and foreign enterprises. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc took part in the conference, which introduced the province's tourist potentials, favourable investment environment, and preferable policies to investors. A total of 34 projects in need of investment capital of nearly 23 trillion VND (more than 1 billion USD) have been introduced at the conference. The projects are involved in the fields of trade, tourism and infrastructure development. Speaking at the event, Deputy PM Phuc said it is an opportunity for Quang Binh to introduce its potential and preferable policies to investors. PhongNha – Ke Bang is also famous for its spectacular cave system. The biggest cave in the world, Son Doong, is hidden in the park. Since the cave was discovered in 2009 by a group of scientists from the British Cave Research Association, it has become internationally known and drawn tourists from all over the world. Last year, the province received around 2.8 million tourists, including 43,000 foreigners, an increase of 129 percent compared to the previous year. It expects to welcome a total of 3.3 million guests this year.-VNA