Spectacular Features of Kom Tum Tourism

During the recent years, Kon Tum province has become well-known to tourists due to owning lots of neglected natural landscapes and historical relic sites. Visitors are also attracted by tangible and intangible cultural values of ethnic groups living in the central highlands province. Above all others, local inhabitants are gentle and righteous, and hospitable.
New, attractive destination
Coming to Kon Tum, visitors will live in ethnic villages and observe immeasurably high Communal House (Nha Rong), attend traditional cultural festivals of native people with plenty of mysterious color. During festivals, visitors will enjoy themselves the sound of cong chieng (gongs), folk dances, colorful costumes and make them merry with ruou can (wine drunk out of a jar through pipes).
Along the Ho Chi Minh road (the old Highway 14) toward Da Nang city, tourists will visit a series of historical relics such as Dak To, Tan Canh battle field, Phuong Hoang (phoenix) airport, Charlie hill, Plei Kan, Ben Hec, Ho Chi Minh City Trail, Dak To hot spring, and ecological tour to Dak Uy specialized forest. Tourists could visit Dak Glei Prison and the highest mountain in Southern Vietnam, which is home to Ngoc Linh ginseng, a valuable and rare medicine.
From the Kon Tum town along the Road 675, connecting to the Highway 14C in the future, visitors could attend attractive ecological tours, including Sa Thay tour to visit the World Bank-funded National Garden Chumomray, which has the most various and rare system of flora and fauna in Vietnam, or tours to Le village of Ro Man ethnic people and the legendary Yaly waterfall. If interested in cultures of ethnic people, visitors could call at Rac village to observe tomb-house statue architectural styles of Gia Rai ethnic people or arrive in the Lung Leng archaeological site, one of the famous cultural archaeological sites showing the presence of humans ten thousands years ago.
Along the Highway 24 toward Quang Ngai province, visitors will get opportunity to see boundless forests, pine hills stretching as far as the eye can see, waterfalls and lakes in Mang Den tourism area. Located at more than 1,100 metres above sea level with the temperate climate, Mang Den area is considered Da Lat of Kon Tum and ideal ecological tourism area for tourists during the summer. Coming to the Kon Tum town, visitors will cross the Kon Klor suspension bridge, the Dakbla River and mountainous yields to visit the Kon Ko Tu cultural village, which is home to Ba Na ethnic people, with the immeasurably high communal house and house on stilts made from natural woods. They could visit the Kon Tum Prison – a national historical relic where revolutionists were jailed before 1945; Go (Wooden) Church and Kon Tum bishop's office which has its architecture style combined between the architecture of Europe and that of native people, the Bac Ai pagoda which was recognized during the Bao Dai King’s process.
The harmonious combination between the natural beauty and characters of local inhabitants has created Kon Tum province an own charm. This is value asset to help the local tourism develop into a key economy.
Promising tourist site
Since the provincial committee of the Party issued the Decree No. 04/NQ-TU on the province’s development plan of tourism in the period of 1996-2000 and a vision to 2010 on November 1, 1996, the province’s agencies and people have been fully aware of the role and status of tourism sector. Kon Tum province has set up detailed schemes for the tourism development surrounding the Yaly lake. Based on the scheme, the Kon Tum tourism company has invested an ecological tourism area surrounding the lake in order to turn Yaly Lake into an ideal tourist destination.
In addition, the project of detailed planning of the Mang Den eco-culture-resort tourism area has been receiving the support from the provincial people’s committee and the Vietnam Administration of Tourism. Once put into use, the project is expected to attract a large number of visitors from lowland provinces. Besides rezoning tourism destinations, the province’s travel companies and the people’s committee of districts are cooperating together to improve historical relics related to the Vietnamese people’s revolution such as Dak To - Tan Canh battle field, Ben Hec cross road, Phuong Hoang airport in order to introduce the province’s tourism potentials to domestic visitors and foreign friends. Also, Kon Tum province has actively participated in building national action plans on tourism and tourism events during the past time. With these efforts, the central highlands province’s tourism has exploited local potential and gained certain achievements.
Taking the potential and located not far from the central key economic zone and transport point linking the Road 24, Ho Chi Minh Road (the old Highway 14), Road 40, Road 18B Laos-Kon Tum across the Bo Y border gate, Kon Tum has advantages in attracting investments into the tourism. It is believed that Kon Tum province’s tourism will still play an important role in the province’s economic structure, creating a connection with Ho Chi Minh City, other Central highlands provinces and coastal central provinces.