Central province seeks investment in tourism

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue is calling for investment in the tourism sector with the aim to become one of largest centres in the country, says the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said.
Top priority would be given to hotels and resort projects outside Hue City because inner-city areas were crowded with around 12,000 hotel rooms, department deputy director Nguyen Quoc Thanh said.
Thanh recommended provincial tourism destinations such as Lang Co, Bach Ma and Thuan An for investors in luxury projects serving high-end guests.
To date, the province had 22 tourism projects, which combined were worth VND50 trillion (US$2.44 billion), he said. Several investors had invested in resort projects along the beaches from Thuan An to Lang Co, including the Singapore-invested Laguna tourism complex worth nearly $1 billion.
Despite this encouraging result, head of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Van Tuan said the implementation of tourism projects in the province was still sluggish.
Tuan urged provincial authorities to improve their investment climates to better facilitate investors as well as diversify their tourism products.
Provincial People's Committee vice chairman Ngo Hoa said tourism was considered the province's key economic sector over the next five years.
He described National Tourism Year 2012 and Festival Hue 2012 as good opportunities for the province to attract more domestic and foreign tourists and investors.
So far, Thua Thien-Hue had signed an agreement with Akitek Tenggara of Singapore to map out an overall scheme for the province's tourism development. The company had completed a list of development sites in the province and would help seek investors for projects.
The company would also work with the provincial tourism sector and other entrepreneurs to build a tourism trademark for Hue City.
The department also signed an agreement with HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to boost tourism co-operation.