Quang Ninh picks U.S. consultant for tourism planning

The northern province of Quang Ninh has selected the U.S.-based Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for making a comprehensive zoning plan on developing the provincial tourism in 2012-2020 with a vision to 2030.
According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the local government and related agencies had a meeting on the main contents of the consulting contract. BCG has triumphed over Britain’s Hyder Group, France’s Egis Group and Hanoi Planning Joint-stock Co. to become the tourism planning consultant for Quang Ninh.
Member assessment councils of Quang Ninh decided to choose the U.S. consultant after considering and studying capabilities, experiences and methods on mapping out the planning of consulting candidates. Local relevant authorities have yet to reveal the value of the contract.
The province expects the zoning plan to play an important strategic role in bringing the local tourism development to a new height.
Quang Ninh in 2012 welcomed about seven million visitors, a year-on-year pickup of 8.5%, and earned total sales of some VND4 trilli­on, the culture department reports. The World Heritage-listed Halong Bay has still remained an attractive tourist area in the locality.