Ha Long Bay enters world’s 20 geological wonders

Ha Long Bay in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh has been listed in the 20 geological wonders of the world by travel guide website Rough Guides.

Ha Long Bay, which spans 1,553km2 and includes 1,969 islands of various size, was twice recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000. In 2011, Ha Long Bay outranked 261 other landscapes from all over the world and was voted one of the seven new natural wonders of the world.

The recognition acknowledges the bay’s exceptional rock cave and limestone mountain system which took millions of years to form, as well as its outstanding biodiversity.

Other places on the list of Rough Guides include Lying areas Danakil (Ethiopia), Cal Orko stonewalls (Bolivia ), De l’Ankarana National Park (Madagascar) , Nitmiluk canyon (Australia); Brighstone Bay (UK) and Antelope Canyon (the US).

Rough Guides is a leading publisher of travel and reference information known for its ‘tell it like it is’ attitude, accurate, up-to-date content and informed contemporary writing.-VNA

The European Union (EU) will provide assistance to Vietnam to help design plans for sustainable development of tourism in Ha Long Bay in the future.  

The signing of an agreement to this effect took place in the northern province of Quang Ninh on October 18 by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Management Board of the “Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme” (ESRT).

The agreement is part of the ESRT in the 2011-2015 period, which is funded by the EU with a total budget of 11 million EUR.

Under the agreement, the programme will assign domestic and international experts to help in the process of drafting a master plan of tourism development in Quang Ninh province to 2020.

Investigations on demand of visitors will be conducted in the framework of the project in order to design suitable tourism products in Ha Long Bay.

Additionally, the project will also help improve professional skills for tourism workers through raining courses.

The EU is one of the biggest donors of non-refundable aid for Vietnam’s tourism sector. This was the second project funded by the union, following the recently completed “Tourism Human Resources Development” project in 2010.