Border tourism potential

Located at the strategic location of Indochina crossroads, Chu Mom Ray National Park is facing a great opportunity to awaken the potential of ecotourism ... improve the lives of ethnic minorities and contribute to biodiversity conservation, strengthening security and defense of the country's border areas.

“GREEN GEM” AT THE BORDER JUNCTION

Chu Mom Ray National Park, Quang Ngai Province, covers an area of over 56,200 hectares, bordering Laos and Cambodia, forming a large transnational conservation area of particular importance for biodiversity conservation in Indochina and Southeast Asia. In 2004, Chu Mom Ray National Park was recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park, affirming its international value in biodiversity and rare genetic resources.

According to the project to develop ecotourism, resorts and entertainment in Chu Mom Ray National Park in the period of 2021-2030, the flora here records 1,895 species, including 52 rare species and 425 valuable medicinal plants. The fauna has 1,001 species, including 101 rare species listed in the Vietnam and world Red Books such as gaur, red-shanked douc langur, Indochinese tiger, hornbill... In particular, the Ya Book-Dak Tao grassland area is an ideal habitat for many ungulates and carnivores, bringing potential for developing attractive wildlife observation tourism.

Director of Chu Mom Ray National Park Management Board Dao Xuan Thuy said that Chu Mom Ray is not only the green lung of the Central Highlands but also a treasure trove of valuable ASEAN heritage. With diverse terrain from high mountains to valleys, majestic waterfall systems such as the 7-storey waterfall, Chang waterfall, and Bere Y waterfall, the park has enough potential to develop diverse types of ecotourism. "We are committed to strictly implementing the motto "conservation for development, development for conservation", ensuring that all tourism activities are associated with the responsibility of preserving nature", Mr. Thuy emphasized.

In addition to natural resources, the cultural identity of more than 20 ethnic minority communities living in the buffer zone of the national park such as Ba Na, Gia Rai, Ca Dong, Ro Mam, Brau... is a special highlight. Traditional cultural values such as sacred communal house space, gong culture, graceful xoang dance, sophisticated weaving, and the deep sound of stone instruments... are still preserved almost intact. In particular, Bar Goc village has been selected by Kon Tum province (old) to pilot the preservation of traditional cultural space, opening up great opportunities for community tourism.

The land of Chu Mom Ray still bears the heroic historical mark of the nation, with relics from the resistance war against American imperialism such as High Point 1015 (Charlie), High Point 1049 (Delta), Chu Tan Kra Martyrs Memorial Area, Lung Leng archaeological site... are meaningful spiritual, cultural and historical destinations, attracting tourists to return to their roots, pay tribute to heroic martyrs and understand more about the history of the struggle of the Central Highlands.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Despite its great potential, tourism activities in Chu Mom Ray National Park have been in their infancy for many years, mainly spontaneous. In this situation, the Project for Developing Ecotourism, Resorts and Entertainment in Chu Mom Ray National Park for the period 2021-2030 is considered an urgent and strategic solution to exploit this potential. The project orients the development of key tourism types including ecotourism, community tourism, cultural-historical tourism, health care resort tourism and sports-adventure tourism.

To realize the goals, the project proposes 10 priority projects with a total investment of more than 133 billion VND. Notably, socialized capital accounts for nearly 128 billion VND (more than 94.2%), demonstrating a strong policy in attracting economic sectors to participate in tourism development. The specific goal of the project is that by 2030, Chu Mom Ray National Park will be recognized as a provincial-level tourist destination, attracting more than 20,000 visitors, including 3,000 overnight visitors; revenue from tourism services of more than 5 billion VND and creating jobs for more than 400 local workers.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai Province, Tran Phuoc Hien, said that the tourism development project in Chu Mom Ray National Park not only aims at economic development, but also the responsibility of preserving heritage, improving the lives of ethnic minorities and strengthening security and defense in border areas. Mr. Hien emphasized: "Chu Mom Ray National Park needs to urgently complete the dossier of the ecotourism development project, select a financially strong enterprise to implement it. In addition, promote the promotion of existing tourism products and natural beauty through social networking platforms; research the establishment of associations and groups to explore nature to spread potential globally, attract tourists and investors according to regulations".

To ensure sustainability, the project focuses on 12 groups of synchronous solutions, prioritizing solutions on protecting the tourism environment, developing forests, conserving nature and biodiversity, and developing codes of conduct for tourists and staff... Raising awareness and training local human resources, especially artisans and people who understand indigenous culture, to become tour guides and tourism service providers are key factors. "In the future, we hope that more tourists will come, not only to sightsee but also to understand and love the beauty of traditional culture; people will have more jobs, more income and be more aware of protecting the forest and preserving identity", shared Meritorious Artisan A Huynh in Chot village, Sa Thay commune.

The project also focuses on promoting the strengths of border tourism, with the Bo Y international border gate and the three-border landmark, creating opportunities to connect international tourists from Laos and Cambodia. At the same time, digital transformation and the application of technology in smart tourism management are also considered breakthrough solutions for Chu Mom Ray National Park to adapt to the trend of the times.

PHUC THANG

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/tiem-nang-du-lich-vung-bien-cuong-389156.html