Decision No. 2161/QD-TTg of November 11, 2013, approving the master plan on development of tourism in Northern Central Vietnam through 2020, with a vision toward 2030

THE PRIME MINISTER

Decision No. 2161/QD-TTg of November 11, 2013, approving the master plan on development of tourism in Northern Central Vietnam through 2020, with a vision toward 2030

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 14, 2005 Tourism Law;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’ s Decision No. 2473/QD-TTg of December 30, 2011, approving the strategy for development of Vietnam’s tourism through 2020, with a vision toward 2030;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’ s Decision No. 201/QD-TTg of January 22, 2013, approving the master plan on development of Vietnam’s tourism through 2020, with a vision toward 2030;

At the proposal of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism,

DECIDES:

Article 1.To approve the master plan on development of tourism in Northern Central Vietnam, including Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien - Hue provinces (below referred as to the region), through 2020, with a vision toward 2030, with the following principal contents:

1.    Development viewpoints

To realize general viewpoints of the strategy for and master plan on development of Vietnam’s tourism through 2020, with a vision toward 2030, and add the following specific development viewpoints for Northern Central Vietnam:

a/ To develop tourism in the form of sightseeing and research of world heritages and cultural-historical relics;

b/ To regard intra-regional, inter-regional and international association and cooperation as important and constant activities for development of tourism in Northern Central Vietnam.

2.    Development objectives

a/ General objectives

By 2020, an association for tourism development in the region will be basically, comprehensively and synchronously formed; and tourism will become a spearhead industry of the region.

By 2030, the region will become a hotspot of tourism development of the country, importantly contributing to the poverty alleviation, and a driving force for socio-economic development.

b/ Specific objectives

-        Regarding organization of tourist space: To form 4 national tourist zones, 6 national tourist sites, 3 tourist cities, 6 tourist development hotspots and a number of local tourist zones and sites as nuclei for tourism development association in the region.

-        Development targets

+ Tourist arrivals

•        By 2015, the numbers of international tourist arrivals and domestic tourist arrivals will be 1.554 million and 6.843 million, with an annual growth rate of 12.3% and 4.3%, respectively;

•        By 2020, the numbers of international tourist arrivals and domestic tourist arrivals will be 2.108 million and 8.900 million, with an annual growth rate of 6.3% and 7.2%, respectively;

•        By 2025, the numbers of international tourist arrivals and domestic tourist arrivals will be 2.795 million and 10.829 million, with an annual growth rate of 5.9% and 5.8%, respectively;

•        By 2030, the numbers of international tourist arrivals and domestic tourist arrivals will be 3.635 million and 13.560 million, with an annual growth rate of 5.4% and 5.6%, respectively.

+ Total revenues from tourists will reach VND 17,773 billion or USD 867 million, by 2015; VND 32,800 billion or USD 1.6 billion, by 2020; VND 48,175 billion or USD 2.35 billion, by 2025; and VND 66,338 billion or USD 3.24 billion, by 2030.

+ Tourism’s contribution to GDP will reach VND 12,300 billion or USD 600 billion, by 2015; VND 20,705 billion or USD 1.01 billion, by 2020; VND 31,057.5 billion or USD 1.51 billion, by 2025; and VND 44,485 billion or USD 2.17 billion, by 2030.

+ Accommodation establishments: There will be 39,000 hotel rooms, of which three- to five-star hotel rooms account for 15%, by 2015; 48,000 hotel rooms and 20%, by 2020; 62,000 hotel rooms and 25%, by 2020; and 78,000 hotel rooms and 30%, by 2030; respectively.

+ Employment: By 2015,175,000 laborers (including .48,000 directly engaged in tourist activities) will be employed; by 2020, 2025 and 2030, this figures will be 240,000 (68,000 directly engaged in tourist activities), 280,000 (83,000 directly engaged in tourist activities), and 398,000 (118,000 directly engaged in tourist activities), respectively.

+ Investment capital demand: The total investment capital demand by 2030 will be VND 165,025 billion (USD 8.05 billion), of which the investment capital demand will be VND 32,800 billion (USD 1.6 billion) for the up-to-2015 period; VND 38,975 billion (USD 1.9 billion) for the 2015-2020 period; VND 43,050 billion (USD 2.1 billion) for the 2020- 2025 period; and VND 49,200 billion (USD 2.4 billion) for the 2026-2030 period.

3.    Major development orientations

a/ Tourist market development

To promote the development of both domestic tourism and international tourism.

-        Domestic tourists

+ To strongly develop the domestic tourist market, attaching importance to tourists who stay in coastal resorts, tourists on historical study tours, weekend tourists, and religious and belief festival tourists;

+ To promote the development and expand eco-tourism and meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition (MICE) tourism markets.

-        International tourists:

+To attract tourists from and strongly develop near markets such as Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar), especially tourists from the countries in the East-West economic corridor and Northeast Asia (Japan, China, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea and Taiwan);

+ To further attract high-class tourists from Western Europe, Northern Europe, North America and Oceania.

b/ Tourist product development,

-        To prioritize the development of main products:

+ To strongly develop products of cultural heritage tourism on the basis of effective exploitation of the system of world heritages and cultural-historical relics in the region;

+ To prioritize the develop tourist products involving historical and revolutionary studies;

+ To strongly develop products of coastal resort tourism targeting tourists from the northern provinces as well as Laos and northeastern provinces of Thailand.

- To develop tourist products symbolizing localities in the region.

- To diversify products with a view to getting rid of the seasonal nature of tourist activities.

- To promote association in the development of tourist products between localities in the region and neighborly provinces such as Da Nang, Quang Nam and Ninh Binh, as well as other countries in the East-West economic corridor.

c/ Territorial development of tourism

-        Tourism development spaces in the region:

+ Relic tourism development space:

·       Hue city and its vicinity:

·       Phong Nha - Ke Bang national park;

·       Ho dynasty citadel and its vicinity.

+ Historical-revolutionary tourism development space:

·       The north of Quang Tri province;

·       Kim Lien (Nghe An province);

·       A Luoi (Thua Thien - Hue province);

·                   Historical-revolutionary relics: Dong Loc T-junction (Ha Tinh province), Ham Rong bridge (Thanh Hoa province), the cave of eight youth volunteers (Quang Binh province), etc.

+ Space for development of marine and island tourism embraces Hai Tien, Sam Son, Tinh Gia (Thanh Hoa province), Dien Thanh, Dien Chau, Cua Lo, Cua Hien, Cua Hoi, Bai Lu (Nghe An province), Thien Cam, Xuan Thanh, Chan Tien, Ky Ninh, Deo Con (Ha Tinh province), Nhat Le river mouth, Bao Ninh, Hon La bay, and Da Nhay, Hai Ninh, Ngu Thuy beaches (Quang Binh province), Con Co islet, Cua Tung and Cua Viet beaches (Quang Tri province), Thuan An, Canh Duong and Lang Co beaches and the Tam Giang - Lap An - Cau Hai lagoon system (Thua Thien - Hue province), of which, Lang Co, Thuan An. Cua Tung and Dong Hoi areas will be prioritized for development of high-class coastal resorts;

+ Eco-tourism development space embraces the national parks and nature reserves, including Ben En, Pu Huong (Thanh Hoa province), Pu Mat, Pu Luong (Nghe An province), Vu Quang, Ke Go (Ha Tinh province), Phong Nha – Ke Bang (Quang Binh province), northern Huong Hoa, Dakrong (Quang Tri province) and Bach Ma (Thua Thien - Hue province).

-        Tourism centers and hot spots for tourism development

The largest tourism center is Hue city, followed by Vinh and Thanh Hoa cities. Other cities in the region, including Dong Hoi, Ha Tinh and Dong Ha, also play the important role. The hot spots for the region’s tourism development include:

+ Hue city and its vicinity (Thua Thien - Hue province);

+ Gio Linh, Vinh Linh (Quang Tri province);

+ Phong Nha - Ke Bang (Quang Binh province);

+ Thien Cam and Vung Ang (Ha Tinh province);

+ Cua Lo - Nam Dan (Nghe An province);

+ Citadel of the Ho dynasty - Lam Kinh – Cam Luong fish stream (Thanh Hoa province).

-        National tourist zones, national tourist sites, tourist cities

+ National tourist zones:

·       Kim Lien tourist zone (Nghe An province): Sightseeing tours to historical, cultural, educational and gratitude relics;

·       Thien Cam tourist zone (Ha Tinh province): Coastal resorts, sightseeing tours to historical and cultural relics;

·       Phong Nha - Ke Bang tourist zone (Quang Binh province): Sightseeing, research; eco- tourism; cultural and historical tourism;

·       Lang Co - Canh Duong tourist zone (Thua Thien - Hue province): Coastal resorts.

+ National tourist sites:

·       Citadel of the Ho dynasty tourist site (Thanh Hoa province): Heritage tourism;

·       Dong Loc T-junction tourist site (Ha Tinh province): Tours to historical-revolutionary relic;

·       Nguyen Du memorial tourist site (Ha Tinh province): Tours to historical relic;

·       Dong Hoi city tourist site (Quang Binh province): Sightseeing and coastal resorts;

·       Quang Tri ancient citadel (Quang Tri province): Tours to historical-revolutionary relic;

·       Bach Ma tourist site (Thua Thien Hue province): Sightseeing, eco-tourism.

+ Tourist cities:

·       Sam Son town (Thanh Hoa province): Coastal resorts;

·       Cua Lo town (Nghe An province): Coastal resorts;

·       Hue city (Thua Thien - Hue province): Heritage and festival tourism.

Tourist routes:

+ International and inter-regional routes:

·       Land routes: National highway 1A, Ho Chi Minh road and national highways 10, 7, 8, 9 and 12A;

·       Railway routes: North-South railway, more railways to Laos through Lao Bao and Cau Treo border gates would be opened in the future.

·       Air routes: Air routes to Phu Bai, Dong Hoi, Vinh and Tho Xuan airports of the region;

·       Sea routes: Sea routes to the region through Chan May port.

+ Intra-regional: Major national highways connecting tourist centers with local tourist zones and sites, including 2 longitudinal roads being national highway 1A and Ho Chi Minh road and transversal roads being national highways 7, 8, 9 and 12A, which are the most important routes, followed by national highways 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49.

+ Theme tours:

·       Tours along the Middle World Heritage Road;

·       Tours to ancient capitals of Vietnam;

·       Eco-tours and adventure touts in the western mountainous region (mainly along Ho Chi Minh road);

·       Tours to explore historical-revolutionary relics along Truong Son road (mainly along national highway 9 and Ho Chi Minh road);

·       Tours to explore cultural traditions of Vietnamese ethnic minority group (mainly along Ho Chi Minh road).

-        Demand for land use for tourism development:

+ About 6,350 hectare for 4 national tourist zones;

+ About 2,800 hectare for 6 national tourist sites;

+ Demand for use of special-use land for development of other tourist zones and sites is identified in the local land use master plans.

d/ Tourism development investment

-         Total investment capital demand is VND 165,025 billion (USD 8.05 billion), including capital from the state budget (including ODA), FDI capital, capital contributed by organizations, enterprises, domestic economic sectors and other lawfully mobilized capital, of which capital mobilized from economic sectors accounts the largest portion, while capital from the state budget is only used to provide support for investment in tourist infrastructure and allocated based on the capacity of annual budget balance and progress of projects in each period.

-        Investment projects: To prioritize the development of 4 national tourist zones, 6 national tourist sites and 6 national hot spots for tourism development. To invest in 4 programs: (1) Promotion of tourism and building of regional tourist brands; (2) Training and development of human resources; (3) Conservation and development of natural resources; and (4) Development of key tourism infrastructure.

4.    Solutions for implementation of the master plan

a/ Tourism promotion and advertising

-        To build capacity, apparatus and mechanisms for tourism promotion and advertising, attaching importance to association in tourism promotion and advertising, and coordination among localities and with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in implementing general tourism promotion and advertising programs for the whole region.

-        To strongly professionalize tourism promotion and advertising: To concentrate efforts on conducting promotion and advertising of regional tourism, in conformity with the orientations for development of tourist products and brands; to formulate a mechanism for intra-sectoral and inter-sectoral coordination, step up the mobilization of social resources for tourism promotion and advertising; to make the best of the mass media’s power and mobilize the cooperation of related agencies, organizations and localities for performing of the task of tourism promotion and advertising.

b/ Tourism development association

-        To build a close association for tourism development investment in the region, formulate general tourism programs for the whole region, build associations in promotion and advertising of regional tourism and training and development of human resources.

-        To boost association with other regions and localities, attaching special importance to association with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ninh Binh, Da Nang, Quang Nam, etc.

-        To promote the close and effective cooperation and association with the countries in the East-West economic corridor and the Greater Mekong Subregion.

c/ Investment capital mobilization

-        To concentrate investment from the state budget source (both central and local budgets) on developing infrastructure to serve tourism.

-        To formulate appropriate mechanisms and policies to attract and create investment capital sources for development of tourism business activities, and mobilize every capital source to meet the investment demand.

-        To mobilize social resources for tourism development investment, encourage all economic sectors to participate in tourism business activities in different forms, and adopt appropriate mechanisms to attract capital from the people for tourism development investment.

-        To create forums for dialogue between local administrations and investors in order to promptly solve difficulties in investment preparation, project formulation and implementation. To attach special importance to creating effective and regular channels for dialogue between investors - local administrations and people in order to create favorable conditions for compensation for land recovered for project implementation.

d/ Human resource development

-        To build up the pool of state managerial officers in charge of tourism.

-        To develop a network of tourism training institutions to meet the increasing workforce demand of the sector.

-        To encourage enterprises to provide training and retraining to improve the professional quality of the sector’s officers and employees.

-        To elaborate national tourism occupational standards (with specific guidance suitable to actual conditions of the region) and standardize tourism human resources.

-        To organize training courses for improving basic tourism professional skills and awareness of people in the key areas for tourism development.

d/ Master plan management

-        The regional localities shall actively develop tourism according to the orientations of the master plan.

-        To increase the coordination and association in state management of tourism among the regional localities.

-        To decentralize the management powers in a thorough, uniform and effective manner.

-        To review local plans, detailed plans and investment projects to make them conformable with the general orientation of the region.

-        To increase the legality of approved tourism planning projects in order to ensure construction and development in line with the master plan.

-        To apply the system of professional standards and relevant standards, and promulgate effective sanctions to create a self-supervision and self-control mechanism.

-        To elaborate the system of information on tourism management for the whole region.

e/ Scientific and technological application

-        To increase association in scientific and technological application among the regional localities.

-        To actively apply science and technology in tourism development.

g/ Protection of natural resources, tourist environment and response to climate change

-        To educate, propagandize and rise the public awareness about the role and significance of tourism, natural resources and environment to tourist activities.

-        To apply technical advances control environmental problems in order to manage and develop natural resources.

-        To encourage environment friendly tourist activities; to encourage and support the community to participate in tourism development investment, share benefits and responsibilities in the exploitation of natural resources to serve the tourism development.

-        To build effective technical solutions aiming to protect natural resources and the environment for tourism.

-        To devise effective measures for natural disaster prevention and control.

-        To build tourist programs in association with the protection of natural resources and environment.

-        To review and adjust master plans (when necessary) to make them suitable to climate change scenario and sea level rise.

-        To raise social awareness of the impact of climate change.

-        To intensify the response to climate change and sea level rise in tourist activities.

h/ National defense and security assurance

-        To include national defense and security assurance contents in tourism development schemes, plans and projects.

-        To intensify cooperation and association among localities in the region and between the tourism sector and related sectors, especially with the public security and border guard forces, so as to ensure safety for tourists, contributing to maintaining social order and safety as well as national security.

-        To ensure territorial integrity and national sovereignty in international cooperation in tourism development.

Article 2.Implementation organization of the master plan

1.       The State Steering Committee on Tourism shall direct the operation of ministries, sectors and localities in the region in handling inter-sectoral and inter-provincial matters arising in the course of implementation of the master plan.

2.       The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall act as the agency assuming the prime responsibility for implementing the master plan and perform the following tasks:

a/ To publicize and organize the implementation of the master plan;

b/ To assume prime responsibility for elaborating and implementing tourism development master plans for national tourist zones and sites in the region;

c/ To proactively coordinate with ministries, sectors and People’s Committees of provinces in the region in performing tasks related to all tourism activities;

d/ To assume prime responsibility for associative operations to develop tourism among enterprises, tourism associations and localities in the region;

dd/ To elaborate action plans on tourism development for each five-year period in conformity with the orientations set in the master plan and organize their implementation;

e/ To formulate cultural and sports policies, master plans, programs, schemes and projects in conformity with the orientations set in the master plan and organize their implementation;

g/ To guide localities in the region in elaborating provincial tourism development master plans and master plans on local tourist zones and points.

h/ To conduct annual reviews, and propose policies and solutions to adjust the master plan to suit realities and report them to the Prime Minister.

3.       Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies shall, within the scope of their functions and competence, advise and propose the Government to include regional tourism development tasks in national target programs and sectoral action programs; and proactively and effectively coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in handling inter-sectoral matters. The specific tasks are as follows:

a/ The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall perform functions and tasks related to the determination of state investment in tourism, mechanisms and policies on tourism investment and preferential credit; balance capital and other resources as well as raise money from donors at home and abroad for tourism development.

b/ The Ministry of Finance shall perform functions and tasks related to mechanisms and policies on finance, tax and customs; and ensure the ratio of state budget expenditures for the implementation of the master plan.

c/ The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Construction shall perform functions and tasks related to social and tourist infrastructure development; include the contents on development of transport infrastructure for tourism development in master plans of the transport sector; improve the region’s air transport capacity, pay attention to the improvement and upgrading of railway infrastructure and service quality serving tourism development; improve traffic safety and formulate a legal corridor and negotiate with other countries in the East-West corridor so as to facilitate the development of caravan tourism; and implement construction and urban planning in conformity with tourism development targets set in the master plan.

d/ The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall effectively implement the production, distribution and sale of home-made products serving the development of shopping tourism, attaching special importance to sustainable development of craft villages.

dd/ The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health shall perform functions and tasks related to the planning of land funds for tourism activities, protection of the tourist environment and response to climate change; and formulate tourism and tourism-related standards and regulations and control epidemics and food hygiene and safety issues, etc.

e/ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense shall perform functions and tasks related to entry and exit procedures, residence, travel, security and safety and boost overseas tourism promotion and advertising; coordinate with the tourism sector in exploiting tourism resources in association with maintenance of national defense and security, especially in border areas and islands.

g/ The Ministry of Home Affairs shall perform tasks related to the improvement of the apparatus performing the state management of tourism, building of capacity of the national tourism promotion agency and mechanisms on partnership between the public and private sectors.

h/ The Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall perform functions and tasks related to development of tourism human resources, building of capacity for tourism training establishments and raising of the awareness of tourism, and working and rest regimes for laborers.

i/ The Ministry of Information and Communications shall perform functions and tasks related to tourism information management and dissemination, application of information technology and communications in tourism development investment and business.

k/ The Vietnam Television, the Vietnam News Agency and the Voice of Vietnam shall intensify public information about tourism to promote tourism development potential and opportunities in the region and raise awareness of tourism.

4. People’s Committees of provinces in the region shall coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and related ministries and sectors in:

- Taking the initiative in implementing and expanding association with other localities in the region in conducting promotion and advertising campaigns to attract tourists and call for investment in tourism development,

-Encouraging local enterprises to develop local special products and creating favorable conditions for enterprises to coordinate with other localities in the region in tourism development.

- Based on the contents of the master plan, formulating local tourism development master plans, detailed plans and investment projects in conformity with the regional tourism development master plan and in association with local socio-economic development master plans.

- Directing and managing the protection of tourism resources and environment, especially in areas planned for developing into national tourism zones and points.

- Attaching importance to the maintenance of traffic order and safety aiming to improve safety for tourists and promoting regional and local tourism images.

- Educating people to maintain and bring into play the value of tourism resources toward sustainable development and long-term exploitation.

- Conducting socialization activities in tourism development so as to bring into play the strengths of all economic sectors for tourism development.

- Establish channels for regular exchange of information among provincial-level management authorities so as to work out plans to direct and guide tourism enterprises and investors in complying with common development orientations of the region.

- Effectively inspecting and examining tourism development investment activities, attaching special importance to coordination with ministries arid sectors in the inspection and examination.

5. Enterprises, tourism associations and other social organizations

- Enterprises shall proactively formulate and implement programs on association in tourism and tourism product development and tourism promotion and advertising.

- Tourism associations and other social organizations, within the scope of their functions, shall grasp targets, viewpoints and orientations set in the master plan and concretize them into their own action programs.

- Mass organizations and socio-political organizations shall coordinate with the tourism sector and local authorities in advertising the regional tourism images; mobilize, disseminate and educate people so as to raise their awareness of tourism, tourism planning and protection of tourism resources and environment.

- Communities shall proactively participate in tourism activities, provision of community- based tourism services and conservation, sustainable exploitation and protection of tourism resources and environment according to tourism development master plans

Article 3.This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 4.Ministers, Heads of ministerial- level agencies, Heads of government-attached agencies and Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces shall implement this Decision.-

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

NGUYEN THIEN NHAN