Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex – an attractive destination of Ninh Binh. Abundant tourism resources As an ancient land located in the Red River Delta, Ninh Binh used to be the capital of Vietnam (in the period 968 – 1010) with 3 dynasties Dinh, Le, and Ly. Traces of the ancient capital preserved intact to this day are the relics of Hoa Lu ancient capital. Along with that is a diverse humanistic tourism resource with more than 1,500 historical – cultural relics, including 1 World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 2 Special National Monuments; 225 festivals and 83 typical traditional craft villages. Referring to Ninh Binh, it must be mentioned that natural resources are extremely rich, typically the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex which has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage with 400 large and small caves. In addition, Ninh Binh also owns the largest forest area compared to other provinces in the Red River Delta (more than 29,000 ha); in which, there is Cuc Phuong National Park – home to nearly 2,000 species of higher plants and 2,600 species of animals. In addition, there are special-use forests of Hoa Lu rocky mountains and Kim Son coastal mangrove forests with many species of animals and plants listed in the World Red Book. The above potentials are the conditions for Ninh Binh to build many types and products of tourism such as spiritual tourism, culture – history, ecology, resort, community, heritage, MICE (combined tourism). As a result, many tourism products of Ninh Binh have been highly appreciated by the international media, such as Tam Coc tourist area, which was introduced by CNN as one of the seven most beautiful caves in Vietnam and a newspaper. Telegraph (UK) once voted as one of 15 “beautiful but little known” places, or Bulletin magazine (Switzerland) voted Ninh Binh as one of the 10 most attractive destinations in Vietnam… Hoang Kim Nhut, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City shared after his trip in March 2021: “I was overwhelmed while sailing, discovering the beauty of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex and the National Park. Van Long Nature Reserve. Ninh Binh makes a strong impression on me by its majestic rocky mountain system, diverse ecosystem and unspoiled nature. Hopefully, Ninh Binh will promote the power of this tourism resource in the future.” Connecting important “links” Thanks to the synchronous implementation of solutions in the state management of tourism, promotion and product development, etc., despite being significantly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the first quarter of 2021 Ninh Binh still welcomed 619,572 visitors, reaching 50% over the same period in 2020, revenue was estimated at nearly 420 billion VND, reaching 61.3% over the same period in 2020. Humbly acknowledging the achieved results, Dr. Bui Van Manh, Director of Ninh Binh Department of Tourism said: “Besides the above results, Ninh Binh’s tourism products are still duplicated, monotonous, lacking in connectivity end; some products have not effectively exploited resources to create quality products and services with cultural depth. This has greatly influenced the promotion of comparative advantages and enhanced competitiveness of Ninh Binh compared to other destinations in the country. In order for Ninh Binh tourism to truly become a spearhead economic sector, contributing positively to the process of structural transformation and socio-economic development of the locality, Mr. Bui Van Manh said that the “link” is important. The most important thing is to organize promotion and promotion, focus on developing tourism products based on the sustainable exploitation of heritage and traditional cultural values ​​in order to create products bearing the local imprint. and suitable to the needs of the guest markets, especially domestic customers during this time. With the desire to soon recover and develop strongly in the coming time, Mr. Bui Van Manh said that Ninh Binh tourism industry has been implementing synchronous measures such as: Issuing preferential and attractive policies. investment in tourism; Build a safe, friendly and attractive Ninh Binh tourist destination; Promote linkages with localities, diversify tourism products; Develop an overall strategy for promotion, promotion and development of the local destination brand; Applying science and technology, digital transformation in tourism development; Check and promptly handle acts of infringing upon heritage and tourism resources… These are fundamental solutions for Ninh Binh tourism to develop sustainably in the coming time.

Illustration. From the beginning of May 2021 up to now, due to the large-scale outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, Ninh Binh province has announced to suspend the reception of guests at tourist sites and attractions in the province to prevent the epidemic. So 100% of boat drivers here become unemployed. Since the return of the Covid-19 epidemic, foreign tourists have not come to Vietnam for tourism, and domestic visitors have decreased. Most of the laborers working as boat drivers at Trang An eco-tourism area and Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist area (Ninh Binh) sometimes only get one trip a month. That situation made the boatmen “cry” because their income decreased due to the absence of passengers. A boatman at Trang An boat station said that since the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex came into operation, it has brought jobs and stable income for thousands of locals living around the heritage area. Trang An has long been a famous tourist destination of Ninh Binh, recognized by Unesco as a natural heritage and a world cultural heritage. The scenery here is made up of winding rivers flowing through limestone mountains, creating countless magical and mysterious natural caves that attract visitors. To explore Trang An, visitors will be sitting on a boat to admire the surrounding mountain nature. If in the past, there were cases in this tourist area, the whole family worked as a boat driver. Average income is 400,000-600,000 VND/day. Although the work is hard, in return for the high income, the family’s economy is getting better and better. Employees feel more secure, more attached to the job. But in the past two years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, tourists have dropped sharply, so income is not enough to cover life. In particular, from the beginning of May, the resort temporarily stopped accepting guests, making the life of the already difficult ferrymen even more difficult. They have to find another job to earn their daily income. Similar to Trang An eco-tourism area, Tam Coc – Bich Dong is a familiar destination that tourists definitely cannot ignore when coming to Ninh Binh. Visiting Tam Coc, visitors will be sitting on a boat, down the poetic Ngo Dong river watching the overlapping mountains and iridescent golden rice fields. Ms. Chu Thi Mo, who works as a ferry driver in Tam Coc, confided: Before, there were 6 to 8 trips a month with many tourists, 200,000 VND each. On holidays and Tet, the number of trips increases much more. But since the Covid-19 epidemic, the absence of customers is considered a loss of revenue. Strictly following the direction of the province, to temporarily close to carry out epidemic prevention work, it is estimated that at Trang An eco-tourism area and Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist area (Ninh Binh), thousands of boatmen have to quit. Without customers, these people have to turn to other occupations to earn a living. According to statistics, at Trang An eco-tourism area and Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist area, there are more than 3,000 people working as boat drivers. Most of them are locals. The boatmen here range in age from 18 to 60 years old. A longtime boat driver shared: “Without guests, many people are not interested in boating. They will look for jobs in garment companies, leather shoes, stone handicrafts, etc. to earn extra income. However, these companies only hire young people, and older people will not be recruited.” Thus, there will be a large number of people working as boatmen who “don’t know where to go”. According to a representative of Xuan Truong construction company, which invests and manages the two tourist resorts above, in order to reduce difficulties for workers, in 2020, the business has supported more than 3,000 ferry workers here every year. person 3 months salary. Currently, the enterprise is planning to continue to support these workers to help them overcome the immediate difficulties.