Inside the Son Doong (Source: Oxalis Adventures)Hanoi (VNA) – France's news agency AFP on January 20published an article on how tourism has been developed in and benefited localcommunity around Vietnam’s Son Doong, which has been dubbed the world’s largestcave.
According to the article, located in the central province ofQuang Binh’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park – the World Heritage site, SonDoong was first discovered by local forager Ho Khanh in 1991, when he stumbledupon an opening in a limestone cliff and heard the sounds of a river deepinside. But after returning home through the thick surrounding jungle, Khanhforgot where the hidden entrance lay, and it stayed lost for another twodecades. When he eventually led a team of British experts back there in 2009,the team found it had the largest cross-section of any cave anywhere on theplanet.
It is large enough to house the 40-floor skyscrapers of anentire New York City block, according to adventure tour company Oxalis, whichguides visitors into the caves.
When Son Doong was opened to tourists four years later, thelives of hundreds of locals changed forever, it said, adding that they soonbecame porters and guides and opened their homes to guests wanting a bed forthe night.
With only one company given permission to operate in each ofthe key caves, there is an incentive to protect them, with numbers of visitorslimited and prices kept high.
The article said as the COVID-19 swept the globe, localscatering to international travellers have struggled. But Son Doong hasweathered the crisis fairly well overall, thanks to a boost in visitors amongVietnam's fast-growing middle class.
The high-end tourism model of the caves – which providesaround 500 jobs for the local community – has begun to attract interest inother areas, it quoted Oxalis as saying./.
VNA
