Tourism, residence, convalescence and relaxation are always closely connected with nature. In Binh Thuan, visitors can enjoy such fascinating landscapes as layer upon layer of sandy hills, ancient Posanu towers of the Cham ethnic people, hundreds of kilometres of clean and beautiful beaches lined with green coconuts trees, poetic fishing villages and a sub-climatic area abundant in sunshine and wind.

Seeing the great potential of this area, Daniel Arnaud, a Frenchman, started it all when he build the first resort in Phan Thiet, naming it Coco Beach Resort. "I first came here i n 1993 and started building the resort in 1994, completing it a year later," says Arnaud.

To date, Binh Thuan Province has 60 resorts, accounting for 60% of all such places in the country, hence giving it the name "Land of Resorts". Visitors staying in Binh Thuan's resorts said that all facilities are close to nature. All the architects involved in the building of the resorts made maintaining a natural involvement a priority.

Regarding the characteristics of Binh Thuan's resorts, Ta Th i Phuong Ly, the investor and Director of Vuon Da (Stone Garden) Resort which is renowned for 26 isolated guest houses lying on the side of a hill near the seaside of white rocks in Thuan Quy Commune, Ham Thuan Nam District, said: "We offer to nature what we have received from it". In fact, seen from the sea, Vuon Da Resort looks like a land in a fairy tale with small houses, forests, streams and magic stones.

Darya, a journalist specializing in writing on Vietnamese tourism and Deputy Director of the Vietnamese Language Faculty in Eastern- Vladivostok National University (Russia) said: "Russian visitors are looking towards the tourist market of Vietnam in general and of Binh Thuan in particular because this place has all conditions for luxurious tours. It is close to nature, has warm territorial water which is suitable to sports and games on the sea, such as surfing and parachute jumping, and the rates are reasonable".

The provincial geography is also an advantage for Binh Thuan resorts. The tourist city of Phan Thiet, the capital of Binh Thuan Province is only a three hours' drive from Ho Chi Minh City. Also, there is a Saigon Phan Thiet tourist railway, which facilitates the travel of businessmen, foreign investors and weekend vacationers.
The number of visitors to Binh Thuan Province has been on the rise. The number of people who stay in hotels and resorts for vacation and convalescence purposes increases 21.43% per year.

Ngo Minh Chinh, Director of Binh Thuan Tourism Department said that the provincial tourism sector will be given priorities to develop, attracting more investment i n tapping the potential of its 192 km-long coastline. As a result, apart from Phan Thiet City, the areas of Ham Thuan Nam, La Gi, Bac Binh, Thu Phong and Phu Quy Island, which is 64 miles away from the mainland, will be listed as places of call for tourism investment.

Out of the total investment projects in Binh Thuan, the tourism sector accounts for more than 80%, showing its scale and development in the future and the need to develop resorts. To implement the goal of becoming "a city of resorts" in the true sense of the word, Binh Thuan Province's tourism sector should set out a master plan and a reasonable development strategy while preserving and embellishing the existing facilities.

(Source: Vietnam Pictorial)