Increasing competitiveness for Quang Ninh tourism

Staff at the food stall of Quang Ninh Gate Tourist Area (Dong Trieu town) introduce traditional peanut rice cake to foreign visitors.

The tourism industry also aims to organize about 90 attractive cultural and sporting events, promising to bring visitors new and unique experiences.

At the end of July, the province organized many unique cultural events, attracting many tourists to experience. Notably, the Quang Ninh Food Festival 2023 took place from July 28-30 at Sun Carnival Square (Bai Chay Ward, Ha Long City), attracting about 10,000 domestic and foreign tourists. With a scale of 200 booths of units, localities, and businesses inside and outside the province, the event created an attractive tourism space, introducing a variety of dishes to people and tourists.

Also in Ha Long City, the conference connecting the consumption of OCOP products and branded products between Quang Ninh and the provinces and cities in the Northern region within the framework of the series of events of the Industry and Trade sector has also become a favorite destination for people and tourists. Localities also organize many attractive programs and events such as: Returning to the San Co land of the Dao people in Quang An commune (Dam Ha district); July singing night in Uong Bi city; the singing festival in residential areas in Ba Che district, Quang Yen town...

According to the report of the Department of Tourism, in the first 6 months of 2023, the province organized 61 cultural and tourism programs and events. Of which, 11 were at the provincial level; 50 were at the local level. In particular, during the holidays of April 30 and May 1, 2023 (from April 29 to May 3, 2023), the province organized 33 events, programs and activities, attracting about 689,000 visitors. In particular, the highlight event was the Ha Long Carnival 2023 with the theme "Ha Long Dance - Harmony with the Five Continents" which attracted about 23,000 people and tourists, creating an explosion, affirming the attraction of Quang Ninh tourism industry.

Winter Carnival 2022 attracts many people and tourists to participate

Along with the capital city, a series of cultural, artistic, sports and tourism programs were held throughout the province, creating a colorful, jubilant and vibrant picture, such as: Food Festival in Mong Cai; Bach Dang Traditional Festival in Quang Yen town; Art performance program and culinary festival in Van Don district; Cultural and Sports Festival of ethnic groups in Binh Lieu district with a series of activities, events and tourism products; opening of Ha Lau Highland Cultural Market, Tien Yen district.

In fact, in recent times, Quang Ninh has done a good job of promoting the value of cultural and sports events to promote and attract tourists. A typical example is the Ha Long Carnival Festival, which has become the opening brand for summer tourism. Following this success are local festivals such as: Binh Lieu So Flower Festival, Ba Che Golden Tea Flower Festival, Cultural and Sports Festival of Ethnic Groups in Tien Yen, etc., which are gradually creating a brand, attracting tens of thousands of visitors.

In addition, sports activities associated with tourism development are also focused on exploitation, brand positioning and more professional. This is a new feature, a big "magnet" to promote tourism, attracting visitors to Quang Ninh. Every year, Quang Ninh is a destination, a place to organize dozens of events, provincial and national sports competitions. In which, some tournaments are gradually interested in organizing more professionally, aiming to serve tourism promotion and development.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Pham Hong Long, Head of the Faculty of Tourism (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, consultant for many tourism programs in Quang Ninh), thanks to the good promotion of landscape advantages, invested infrastructure, many cultural and sports events taking place in the area bring great opportunities for tourism development. A typical example is the Ha Long Bay Heritage International Marathon, the standard running course in Ha Long has become a destination on the international Marathon map, attracting thousands of athletes from all continents. Not only that, the running course along the shore of Ha Long Bay Heritage has also been voted by the famous running magazine Marathon Runner's World UK as one of the most beautiful and attractive running courses in the world. That is a great resource, favorable for combining tourism development.

In the last 6 months of the year, Quang Ninh province plans to organize nearly 90 unique cultural, tourism and sports programs and events. Locals and tourists are eagerly awaiting events that have become brands, such as: Ha Long Bay Heritage International Marathon, VN Express Marathon; unique cultural and artistic activities to celebrate National Day 2.9; Winter Carnival, traditional ethnic festivals in localities: Dong Trieu, Tien Yen, Ba Che, Binh Lieu...

Ms. Le Thi Bich Hang, Deputy Director of Vietravel Quang Ninh Branch, said: Organizing unique cultural and sports events, especially programs that have become brands, is the driving force for Quang Ninh to attract tourists, as well as increase competitiveness compared to other localities. With annual and widely publicized events, we have proactively built tours, introduced these events to tourists to create diverse products. Not only that, these programs and events are organized in many localities at many times, so it is easy for tourists to allocate time reasonably and choose suitable destinations.

According to Quang Ninh electronic newspaper