Developing tourism linked with cultural preservation – Phu Tho's key direction post- merger
Following the merger of the three provinces Phu Tho, Hoa Binh, and Vinh Phuc, the newly formed Phu Tho has ample potential to develop and connect cultural, historical, human, and natural resources.
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| Xoan Singing performance at Hung Temple, Phu Tho. (Photo: Nguyen An) |
Using national cultural identity as a connecting axis
Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, assessed that the merger has created a vast, synchronized, and harmonious development space, particularly in tourism, offering Phu Tho numerous potentials and opportunities.
In recent years, tourism in the three former provinces of Phu Tho, Hoa Binh, and Vinh Phuc has maintained a stable growth rate of 10-15% annually, attracting millions of visitors and forming many unique tourist areas and sites.
Hoa Binh is renowned for its eco-tourism and exploration of the unique customs and cuisine of the Muong and Thai people at famous tourist spots like Mai Chau, along the Da River, visiting Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant, and Thac Bo Temple. Meanwhile, Vinh Phuc boasts famous sites like the misty Tam Dao and the pilgrimage to Tay Thien National Mother...
As the homeland of the Vietnamese nation, Phu Tho possesses a rich cultural heritage system. Notably, the Hung Temple National Special Historical Site and two UNESCO-recognized intangible cultural heritages: the Worship of Hung Kings and Xoan Singing of Phu Tho. This area is rich in cultural spaces and festivals, with hundreds of traditional festivals, craft villages, and the unique cultural life of the Muong, Dao, Tay, and Thai people, creating a rare distinct identity.
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| As the homeland of the Vietnamese nation, Phu Tho possesses a rich cultural heritage system. (Source: Quan doi nhan dan) |
With these unique advantages, Phu Tho has identified cultural preservation linked with tourism development as the main direction in the new development space. From early 2025, the province has developed and implemented the project "Preserving and Promoting the Traditional Cultural Values of Ethnic Minorities Linked with Tourism Development"; completed the draft resolution on tourism development for the 2026-2030 period.
After the merger, the province has placed special emphasis on developing community tourism, using national cultural identity as the connecting axis between preservation and development. The province currently has over 800,000 Muong people with a rich cultural treasure like Mo Muong, Muong gongs, Khai Ha festival, Thuong rang singing, Bo meng... This is an invaluable resource if properly harnessed.
The province aims to build a community tourism model linked with preserving the Muong cultural space, helping residents both preserve heritage and improve income, developing sustainable livelihoods. The province also invests in restoring and upgrading cultural, spiritual, and ecological tourist sites. The Hung Vuong Museum is completing documentation for provincial-level tourist site recognition; many tourist areas and sites are being systematically planned in terms of landscape, infrastructure, and environment; connectivity routes are being expanded, facilitating regional linkage and forming a chain of distinctive tourism products...
Boosting tourism promotion efforts
Immediately after the merger, Phu Tho province implemented tourism promotion efforts comprehensively and effectively. To realize the goal of making Phu Tho an attractive, safe, friendly, and culturally rich destination, the Phu Tho Tourism Stimulus Program 2025 with the message "Phu Tho – Come to Love" was officially launched.
Accordingly, tourism businesses in the province will simultaneously implement discount packages from 10-30% for various services: accommodation, conferences, dining, transportation, resorts, entertainment, cultural performances, and community tourism experiences.
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| Mo village tourist area in Da Bac commune. (Photo: PV) |
In addition, the provincial tourism sector also focuses on restructuring products, expanding the market, enhancing regional linkages, boosting tourism promotion; developing diverse and rich service products, enhancing visitor experiences while ensuring service quality. All aim to increase the rate of overnight visitors, extend their stay, and raise spending levels, thereby creating sustainable development momentum.
In South Korea, from July 18-21, Phu Tho participated in the Vietnam Tourism Promotion Program at the KITS International Tourism Fair with various promotional activities and business connections. The province's booth introduced spiritual tourism products, community eco-tourism, resorts, and MICE tourism to Korean partners. This is a potential market with high-spending visitors, suitable for Phu Tho's distinctive tourism products.
In Ho Chi Minh City, from August 25 to September 15, Phu Tho participated in the 19th International Tourism Expo 2025 (ITE HCMC 2025) – the country's leading tourism trade event. The booth of the Land of Ancestors attracted a large number of visitors and travel agencies with promotional products such as night tours to Hung Temple, Xoan singing experiences, community eco-tourism in Xuan Son, Hung Lo, Hoa Binh Lake... This is an important opportunity to connect the southern tourism market, contributing to spreading the brand of expanded Northwest tourism.
Additionally, many domestic programs such as "Colors of Ancestral Land Tourism – Phu Tho 2025", the 21st Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival, the Vietnam International Travel Mart in Hanoi, the Ban Flower Festival in Dien Bien province... have seen active participation from Phu Tho, creating more opportunities to promote the image and tourism products to friends both domestically and internationally.
Alongside, the Phu Tho Tourism Promotion Information Center has intensified communication on digital platforms: websites dulichphutho.gov.vn, visitphutho.vn, YouTube channel "Land of Ancestors", TikTok Du Lich Phu Tho; collaborating with central and local press and television to spread the image of Ancestral Land tourism to domestic and international tourists.
Nguyen Khac Hieu, Vice Chairman of the Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee, affirmed that to fully realize its role in the new development space, it requires synchronized, decisive, and creative involvement from provincial departments, sectors, and localities.
The focus is on strengthening inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination in a substantive manner, enhancing planning quality, boosting investment promotion, expanding destination promotion using modern, in-depth, and highly impactful communication tools.
From there, gradually turning Phu Tho into a leading cultural, ecological, and resort tourism center in the northern region; a place where historical values and contemporary vitality converge; where tourism is not only an important economic sector but also a space for experience, creativity, and sustainable development.
According to the orientation of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, in the coming time, Phu Tho will continue to invest in developing tourism products associated with the cultural characteristics of the Land of Ancestors: spiritual-festival tourism, community-ecological tourism, resort tourism combined with cultural experiences; building a digital database on ethnic minority cultural heritage; supporting community tourist sites to upgrade infrastructure, improve services, linking tourism development with the new rural construction program and comprehensive digital transformation.
The province will use culture as a foundation, the people as the main actors, and technology as a tool to develop green, smart, and sustainable tourism, gradually realizing the goal of becoming a cultural tourism center of the Northern Midlands and Mountainous region.
