Difficult to maintain tourist attractions
Muong Khuong district, Lao Cai province has great tourism potential with diverse terrain, rich culture and pristine nature.
However, tourism development here faces many difficulties, including lack of investment in infrastructure and management from the government.
Lack of facilities and services makes it difficult for tourists to access and experience tourist attractions.
According to research, the tourist attractions of Ham Rong, Vang Leng and Cao Son in Muong Khuong district have had their recognition revoked and officially stopped operating since July.
This means that these locations will no longer receive priority investment and promotion from the government.
Instead, the district will have to be autonomous in maintaining, preserving and improving the quality of services.
Ham Rong Cave is located right at the foot of Ham Rong Mountain, about 2km from the district center. This place was recognized as a national scenic relic in 2003, still pristine but not invested.
More than 3km from the center of Muong Khuong district, Vang Leng cultural village appears before the eyes of tourists, but only solid concrete houses are under construction. The traditional culture of wooden houses and yin-yang tiles no longer exists.
Cao Son commune, 25km from Muong Khuong district, shares the same fate as Ham Rong and Vang Leng tourist destinations because it has not received proper investment to develop tourism.
Mr. Nghe Van Phin (Tung Chung Pho commune) shared: "Now in that village, people have built brick houses, there are no traditional wooden houses left. Besides, it is very deserted here, no tourists visit."
According to Mr. Phin, people really want to do tourism to improve the economy, but there are no visitors and no support, so they are not interested.
Inefficient operation
On October 13, speaking with Lao Dong, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Muong Khuong district Pham Xuan Thai said: “The Lao Cai Department of Tourism has surveyed and decided to revoke the recognition of 3 tourist attractions in the district. After that, it will be handed over to local authorities for management.”
According to Mr. Pham Xuan Thai, the reason for the revocation is that even though it was recognized, there was no funding to invest and attract tourists, so it was not effective.
Besides, the change of weather and the destruction of natural disasters make these places unable to retain the traditional features of wooden houses and yin-yang tiled roofs.
“Without investment budget and landscape restoration, most of these cultural villages have been concreted. In addition, people do not have the mindset of doing tourism, and activities are still fragmented,” said Mr. Pham Xuan Thai.
Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Muong Khuong district also said that according to statistics, each week, in addition to people visiting relatives, there are only 250-300 international visitors to the district.
Due to difficult roads and many unpopular spots, tourism development in recent years has not been able to be done immediately.
“We are mobilizing people to do community tourism associated with tours and routes; at the same time, we advise the district to call on businesses to invest in infrastructure development, instead of relying on state funding,” Mr. Pham Xuan Thai added.
According to information from Lao Cai Department of Tourism, the tourist attractions in Muong Khuong district had their recognition revoked because they failed to promote their value and did not ensure the conditions of a tourist attraction.
In addition, the names of the above tourist routes are no longer suitable due to the 2017 Tourism Law and detailed regulations and implementation instructions.
