In the January - October period, the Marble Mountains special national relic site, located in Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang welcomed nearly 1.4 million visitors with a total entrance fee contribution to the State budget of more than VND 58.9 billion. This is a good signal, showing that the service and tourism sectors of Ngu Hanh Son District in particular and Da Nang at large are recovering strongly.

Tourists visit the Ngu Hanh Son scenic spot. Photo: KHOI NGUYEN

‘Ma nhai’ heritage attracts foreign tourists

The Marble Mountains special national relic site, a sacred land, with unique spiritual cultural values, has become a must-visit destination in Da Nang as each precious one in this area boasts its own character. This tourist spot is very inviting to tourists as it is imbued with historical and spiritual meaning.

This scenic spot is known for its thriller and mystery stories that help increase its uniqueness and sacredness. Especially, ‘ma nhai’, inscriptions on rocks, which was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a documentary heritage under the UNESCO Memory of the World for the Asia-Pacific Region Programme on November 26, 2022. Since then, the heritage has been publicised in the mass media in order to widely introduce it to domestic and foreign tourists.

“Thanks to the good promotion of the ‘ma nhai’ system, many tourists, especially foreigners have come to this relic site. Since the beginning of the year, foreign tourists coming to visit were mainly from South Korea, China, India and European countries. This is a new cultural tourism product in attracting tourists to the site" Mr. Hien said.

Avalokiteśvara Festival is also one of the attractive magnets for domestic and international tourists. Chairman of Ngu Hanh Son District People's Committee Nguyen Hoa said that after 2 years of COVID-19, this year, the district’s authorities have advised the municipal government city to issue a plan to organise the Avalokiteśvara festival and upgrade it to a city-level large scale festival with 32 religious, cultural, artistic and sports activities in both ceremonies and festivals.

The great success of the festival is that it has attracted a large number of people and tourists to the site for worships and festivals as well as brought good impressions to visitors about such a spiritual cultural festival in Da Nang.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoa, in order to diversify types of tourism, focus has been piloting a walking street model combined with a night market at the An Thuong Tourist Streets quarter in My An Ward. Over 3 months of operation, more than 30,000 tourists used the services, contributing to promoting the local tourism trade and increasing the experience for tourists.

In addition, in the programme of cultural activities and tourism festivals in 2023, the district’s administration organised the Non Nuoc - Ngu Hanh Son fine art stone sculpture competition in 2023. Through the competition, many unique works were displayed, exhibited and introduced to visitors the process of crafting and creative arts through the talented hands of sculptors at the Non Nuoc Traditional Stone Sculpture Craft Village.

Continue to tap tourism attraction potential

Recently, during a working session with the Department of Tourism, Ngu Hanh Son District Party Committee Secretary Cao Thi Huyen Tran said that with the goal of building the district into a unique and civilised place, the district is trying to diversify types and services connecting destinations to increase the value of the experience for tourists.

In the past, tourists visiting the Marble Mountains only visited individual spots, now the district is building a process to connect all tourist attractions, pagodas, caves and ‘ma nhai’ of this highly popular scenic relic site, thereby helping visitors understand cultural and historical values and have wonderful, complete experiences at the Marble Mountains site.

Mr. Nguyen Hoa said that on July 11, 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed Decision No. 882/QD-TTg approving the planning for preservation, repair and restoration of the Marble Mountains special national relic site with 7 project groups, implemented from 2023 to 2030, with a vision towards 2050. This is the legal basis for the city to manage, protect and promote the value of this tourist attraction.

Not only that, after the Marble Mountains scenic spot is planned, it will be raised to a new level, increasingly attracting a large number of tourists to the site.At the same time, this place has become an important magnet on the tourist itinerary ‘Central Heritage Road’.

In the coming time, the district’s People's Committee will review and evaluate the effectiveness of implementing investment in infrastructure items in An Thuong Tourist Streets complex in Phase 1 to lay a basis to complete the investment policy dossier. This project is in Phase 2 at the moment.

Currently, the district is increasingly directing relevant units to speed up the progress of completing investment procedures for items at the K20 Revolutionary Base Area.

In particular, inland waterway wharf items at wharf K20 will be put into operation to serve tourists as soon as possible. The Ngu Hanh Son District administration has asked the municipal Department of Tourism to support in consulting and orienting the formation and development of tourism products, and implementing plans to organise tourism activities and promoting the district's tourism products.

Reporting by THANH PHUONG  - Translating by A.THU