Sustainable tourism in central region intensified

World Heritage sites in Vietnam’s central region have been introduced to the world through the offering of a travel book called My Son Sanctuary World Heritage Site and flyers on international flights of Asiana Airlines of the Republic of Korea (RoK).
This is one of the results of the “Promoting World Heritage sites in Vietnam’s Central Region” project financed by Asiana Airlines through the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) and the UNESCO Hanoi Office.
Launched in May 2012, the project aims to connect four world heritage sites in the region, including the Hue Monuments Complex in Hue city, the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh province, and Hoi An ancient town and the My Son sanctuary site in Quang Nam province.
Besides activities to promote the cultural values of the four world heritage sites, the project also installed solar power public lighting systems at the sites to strengthen sustainable tourism.
Local authorities appreciated the project’s role in fostering the connectivity of the world heritage sites as well as partly protecting the environment and promoting renewable energy in line with sustainable urban development policies.
In 2012, Hoi An ancient city was voted the world's top city destination by Wanderlust, a UK travel magazine, and one of the ten leading tourism cities in Asia by the world's premier travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller.
According to Head of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam Katherine Muller Marine, an important outcome of the project is to make the first step in building a strong public-private partnership in promoting world heritage.
KNCU Vice Secretary General Lim Huyn Mok said the project is an excellent example for close cooperation between UNESCO and enterprises in improving regional infrastructure to foster sustainable tourism in the world heritage sites to benefit local people.
He said the KNCU will further improve tourism facilities at the UNESCO-recognised cultural heritages.
Vice Chairman of the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee Tran Minh Ca pledged that the province will take measures to maintain the results of the project.