To achievethis goal, the district has set an urgent task of promotingadvertisement, attracting investment to the tourism sector, andselecting potential and experienced investors to implement high-qualitybusiness investment projects, Nguyen Duc Thanh, Secretary of thedistrict Party Committee, Chairman of Co To district People's Committee,was quoted as saying by the Communist Party of Vietnam onlinenewspaper.
Accordingly, by 2015, the province will completeessential infrastructure, especially high-quality traffic between theisland and the mainland and works to supply power, water andtelecommunications to create conditions to attract investment fortourism development.
In the period of 2015-2020, Co To willfocus on developing high-quality ecotourism rapidly and sustainably,which is compatible with the characteristics of marine and islandtourism with diverse forms of tourism, sports and entertainment.
It is expected that from now to 2020, each year this island attractsabout 100,000 arrivals, including 5,000-6,000 foreign tourists.
Co To district’s administration has tried to tighten management toprevent 'bargain bucket' cheap discount prices for tourists. Thedistrict will provide full information and openly announce prices,transport, prices of hotel rooms as well as the price of food and drinkthrough leaflets, brochures and on the local website coto.gov.vn.
Co To is still a pretty wild island and sea area, comprising ofabout 50 large and small islands, and is a new tourist destination,which has started to attract tourists in recent years.
From2012, Co To has put some new tourism models into operation such asinnovative tourism “A day as soldier”, and “Journey for homeland sea andisland" organised by the district Youth Union to support thecommunity-based tourism model development.
The authority ofthe district has been active and encouraged the local people on theisland to join the tourism sector by, for example, providing homestayservices.
Thanh said that the district has provided 500million VND (23,500 USD) to 100 families to build toilets, support 50percent of internet costs with a loan of 200 million VND (9,400 USD) foreach household, which is eligible to welcome tourists, provided 1billion VND (47,000 USD) for the district Youth Union to provide freeone-turn tickets for speedboat rides for the youth who participate in"Journey for homeland sea and island".
There have been over70 delegations joining the journey with nearly 5,000 members, who haveexperienced homestays, engaged in daily life, work, fishing with localpeople and participated in voluntary and social activities in thedistrict.
Promoting tourism has helped people on the islandbe aware of the of building the tourism culture. Since late 2013, manyhouseholds on Co To island have invested in building houses, restaurantsand hotels with a capital expenditure of nearly 100 billion VND (4.7million USD).
The number of tourists coming to Co To islandis increasing. In 2013, Co To island welcomed 56,000 tourist arrivals, a17-fold increase compared to 2010. Tourists coming to Co To island aremainly young people who like to explore.
Theinfrastructure of the island district has been improved. Each day thereare four speedboats from the mainland to the island, and the journeystake about 60-90 minutes.
Since 2012, Co To has providedwireless internet over the island and completed the construction ofTruong Xuan reservoir with a capacity of 170,000 cubic meters, which isenough to provide clean water to households and the tourism industry.
The reservoir system continues to be built on other small islands.In late 2013, Co To was connected to the national power grid thanks 30km of cables running on the seabed with an investment of 1 trillion VND(47 million USD), contributing to improving the quality of tourismservices on the island. In addition, the district also focuses ontraining human resources for the tourism sector.
ChairmanThanh said that to turn Co To into an high-ranking ecotourism venue, itis most important to protect the natural environment.
Awareof this, the people on the island have restricted their use of wood,changing from cooking with firewood into using gas, electricity andpeat. Each year, the district budget provides over 1 billion VND (4,700USD) to cover the coal freight for people.
The authority hasstrengthened the checks on the handling of seaweed and ornamentalplants, deforestation, the use of explosives and chemical substances inhunting seafood.
Quang Ninh is focusing on completing theinfrastructure to achieve the goal of turning Co To island into a majortourism center of the province, contributing to the sustainable maritimeand island development of the nation.-VNA