World Heritage sites in Vietnam’s central region have been introduced
to the world through the offering of a travel book called My Son
Sanctuary World Heritage Site and flyers on international flights of
Asiana Airlines of the Republic of Korea (RoK).
This is one of the results of the “Promoting World Heritage sites in
Vietnam’s Central Region” project financed by Asiana Airlines
through the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) and the UNESCO
Hanoi Office.
Launched in May 2012, the project aims
to connect four world heritage sites in the region, including the Hue
Monuments Complex in Hue city, the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in
Quang Binh province, and Hoi An ancient town and the My Son sanctuary
site in Quang Nam province.
Besides activities to promote the
cultural values of the four world heritage sites, the project also
installed solar power public lighting systems at the sites to strengthen
sustainable tourism.
Local authorities appreciated
the project’s role in fostering the connectivity of the world heritage
sites as well as partly protecting the environment and promoting
renewable energy in line with sustainable urban development policies.
In 2012, Hoi An ancient city was voted the world’s
top city destination by Wanderlust, a UK travel magazine, and one
of the ten leading tourism cities in Asia by the world’s premier
travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller.
According to
Head of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam Katherine Muller Marine, an
important outcome of the project is to make the first step in building a
strong public-private partnership in promoting world heritage.
KNCU Vice Secretary General Lim Huyn Mok said the project is an
excellent example for close cooperation between UNESCO and enterprises
in improving regional infrastructure to foster sustainable tourism in
the world heritage sites to benefit local people.
He said the KNCU will further improve tourism facilities at the UNESCO-recognised cultural heritages.
Vice Chairman of the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee Tran Minh
Ca pledged that the province will take measures to maintain the results
of the project.-VNA