Alluring charm of an island district
According to Nguyen Cong Dac, an officer from Co To district’ Culture and Tourism Office, Co To has many strong advantages in regards ecotourism tourism and sea experience. The pristine beauty of natural beaches, clear seawater and primeval forest create an alluring charm for visitors.
The island district comprises Co To Lon (large Co To island), Co To Be (small Co To island) and several smaller islands.
Co To Lon possesses plenty of enchanting beaches including Tau Dam, Hong Van, Van Chay, Bac Van, and Vung Ong Vien. Among them, Hong Van beach is known as the best beach of Co To, thanks for its untouched and peaceful charm and beauty, white sands and wavy water. The island is also famous for abundant fresh and diverse seafood, along with many historical and cultural sites.
Tourists to Co To should not miss a wonderful walk to Co To lighthouse, which is dubbed as the “rooftop” of the island. Climbing up 72 stairs to the top of the lighthouse, visitors can see a panoramic view of the island from above with unlimited blue frim the sea and sky.
From Co To Lon, traveller can also take a short day-tour trip by high-speed boats to Co To Con, which takes them around half an hour to cover the distance. Covering more than 200 hectares, Co To Con also has wonderful beaches and tropical primeval forest eco-system that is almost in its primary conditions.
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Hong Van beach is known as the best beach of Co To, thanks for its untouched and peaceful charm and beauty, white sands and wavy water
Boosting sustainable tourism development
Chief of the Co To District People's Committee Office, Pham Quang Huy, said that the high-speed boats have helped to cut the travel time from Van Don wharf to Co To from five hours to one hour.
Co To tourism has seen positive developments since the island was connected to the national power grid in 2013. Accordingly, the number of vacationers increased to 320,000 in 2018 from 35,000 in 2013, generating hundreds of billions of dongs in tourism revenue.
The island has also achieved robust socio-economic growth and significant improvements in traffic infrastructure and people’s livelihoods, with income per capita reaching nearly US$3,400 per year.
With these encouraging achievements, Co To is the first island district in the country receiving recognition as a new-style rural area, and it is planned to become a national eco-tourism site by 2020.
With the hope to raise the quality of tourist products and services, the Co To Tourism Association has organised a number of promotional tourist programmes and activities, including a seminar in Hanoi on tourism development, and a field trip for 50 travel agents nationwide.
The association has also collected comments from travel companies on the current policies targeting tourism activities in a bid to provide them with most favourable support for their operation.
The local authorities stay steadfast in a no trade-off between economic output and environmental protection, but have attached great importance to advancing the economic situation coupled with improving people's livelihood, protecting the environment and natural resources for sustainable development.
