Quang Tri promotes tourism potential

During twenty years of operation, the “Central Heritage Road” left a strong impression on the three central provinces of Quang Binh, Thua Thien Hue, and Quang Nam, which possess world heritage sites recognized by UNESCO, including Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, the complex of Hue Monuments and Hue Court Music, My Son Sanctuary and Hoi An ancient town, respectively, and other central provinces, to exploit tourism potential effectively, promote and spread its image to international friends.

Promoting the “Central Heritage Road”

In recent years, the “Central Heritage Road” program has created tourism links between Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam and Da Nang City, enhancing the reputation of this sunny and windy region, positioning it as a key tourist hub of the Vietnam.

Hien Luong - Ben Hai special national relic becomes an attractive destination at the Unification Festival on April 30. Photo: N.T.H

Despite facing many difficulties, Quang Tri still has a lot of potential for tourism development.

Enclosing an abundance of historical, cultural, and scenic relics, including more than 500 well-recognized relics, four special national-level relics, four national treasures, and one cultural heritage site, Quang Tri has the full potential to become an attractive destination for tourists.

Visitors to Quang Tri are especially impressed by the thousands of years of heroic fighting history of previous generations and sympathize with the unfortunate fates caused by war, especially after the country was divided into two regions (north and South). In adversity, the Quang Tri people remained resilient and determined to confront the invaders for peace, independence, and freedom.

Quang Tri is described as the land of the heart, as well as the starting point of the journey to the South.

The land of Quang Tri was formed in a very special way when its northern part, from the Hieu River to Quang Binh province, belonging to Champa’s Ma Linh district, was given to Dai Viet after Ly Thuong Kiet’s attack in 1069 and the southern part was a wedding gift from Champa King Che Man to the Vietnamese people after his marriage with Princess Tran Huyen Tran in 1306.

In particular, Quang Tri was chosen by Nguyen Hoang, the first of the Nguyen Lords, as the starting point for the expansion to the South, contributing to the full formation of the entire country’s territory today. Due to its important strategic location, this province was twice chosen as the headquarters of the two wars against French colonial rule and the American empire when King Ham Nghi issued the Can Vuong Edict calling on people to rise up against the French colonial rule (1883-1885) as well as where the Republic of South Vietnam had headquartered for two years (1973-1975), during the period of resistance against American empire.

Quang Tri also contains many renowned historical landmarks such as Hien Luong Bridge spanning the Ben Hai River - the place that marked the boundary separating the North and the South of Vietnam for 21 years (1954- 1975), Vinh Moc Tunnels - a safe haven for hundreds of people and the transport of goods and weapons across the battlefield. Besides, many historical relics also attract the attention of tourists, including Route 9 –Khe Sanh, McNamara Electronic Fence, Con Tien - Doc Mieu, and Quang Tri Ancient Citadel....As a testament to the brutality of war, Quang Tri has 72 cemeteries - the highest in the country, including two national cemeteries, The Truong Son Martyrs Cemetery and The Road 9 Martyrs Cemetery, with nearly 60,000 martyrs' graves.

Let Quang Tri become a meeting place of peace

Quang Tri needs to take many measures to effectively exploit tourism potential and cultural heritage resources, organize more tourism products associated with historical relics such as: “Nostalgia for old battlefields and comrades”, Unification Ceremony, Releasing flowers and lanterns on Thach Han River.

In particular, Quang Tri’s tourism industry needs to plan on a large scale and maintain them for a long time, such as the upcoming Festival for Peace. Held in July 2024, this event includes a series of activities and festivals to honor the values of peace.

Place to drop flowers on the southern bank of Thach Han River. Photo: N.T.H

To help visitors directly experience and understand the values of peace through a series of activities and events, the province aims to build centers to connect cultural heritage and analyze them in depth, promoting public-private cooperation to exploit the value of cultural heritage, focusing on digital transformation and digital integration of data on both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Local authorities must take advantage of its position as the starting point for the process of territorial expansion to the South and the local heroic history to create a highlight in its tourism products.

Thanh Hai - Tung Lam