Cat Ba archipelago viewed from above. Photo: VNA
Abundant resources
According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Phong, the locality has a strategic geographical location, serving as the gateway to the sea for the North, and an important transportation hub with a synchronized system of seaports, roads, railways, and airports. In terms of natural resources, Hai Phong has a favorable location, a mild climate, the densest river system in the North, a vast sea and island area, and over 33,000 hectares of forest and forest land with unique mangrove, coral, and limestone mountain forest ecosystems, being the only habitat in the world for the Cat Ba langur. These are exceptionally favorable conditions for the development of ecotourism, marine and island tourism, and resort tourism.
The most prominent feature in this tourism product line is the Cat Ba Archipelago – Lan Ha Bay, with its unique global values such as an exceptional density of pine trees, lagoons, and small sandy beaches; and a diverse, pristine forest and marine ecosystem. Cat Ba is the only place in Vietnam to possess seven national and international titles: World Natural Heritage Site; International Geological Heritage Site; World Biosphere Reserve; Member of the Club of the World's Most Beautiful Bays; Special National Scenic Area - Monument; National Park; and Marine Protected Area. This pearl island is well-suited to become a strategic pillar for positioning Hai Phong tourism on the world map. Alongside it are the Do Son Peninsula, the Long Chau, Bach Long Vi, and Hon Dau island systems, river and limestone mountain landscapes on the mainland, characteristic ecological spaces of the Red River Delta region, and valuable mineral water resources.
In terms of cultural resources, Hai Phong boasts nearly 4,000 historical sites, thousands of festivals, rich cuisine , and a unique "Port City" identity. Particularly noteworthy is the Con Son – Kiet Bac World Heritage Site, a unique space in Vietnam that fully embodies the values of "spirituality, culture, and martial arts," associated with General Tran Quoc Tuan (Hung Dao Dai Vuong), the world-renowned cultural figure Nguyen Trai, and the Second and Third Patriarchs of Truc Lam, namely Phap Loa and Huyen Quang. This heritage site possesses outstanding global values, aiming to become an international cultural and spiritual tourism center.
Furthermore, Hai Phong possesses strong development resources such as a comprehensive transportation infrastructure encompassing all five modes of transport, abundant human resources, robust public finance, leading FDI attraction nationwide, dynamic institutions, and top-ranking provincial competitiveness. The city currently has 900 tourist accommodation establishments with 23,421 rooms, including 19 4-5 star hotels with 4,690 rooms. The Cat Ba area has 152 tourist boats, including 80 sightseeing boats and 72 overnight boats with 1,359 rooms in the bay. Hai Phong city has 36 recognized tourist areas and sites, including 28 tourist sites and 8 provincial-level tourist areas. Tourism has been identified as one of the city's strategic breakthroughs in the coming period.
The Cat Ba archipelago comprises 367 islands of varying sizes, with Cat Ba Island being the largest (approximately 100km2) and a town belonging to Cat Hai district. Photo: Minh Duc/TTXVN
With these potentials, in 2025, Hai Phong attracted approximately 14.5 million visitors, including over 13 million domestic tourists and 1.4 million international tourists. In 2026, the city's tourism industry aims to welcome around 16 million visitors.
Strategic solutions are needed.
According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Phong, in 2026, the industry will focus on several key tasks in tourism development. Specifically, the industry will reposition the Hai Phong tourism brand based on the global and unique values of its heritage system, with Cat Ba Archipelago - Lan Ha Bay and Con Son - Kiet Bac as strategic pillars. In addition, the Department, along with relevant agencies and units, will continue to develop a system of distinctive, high-quality tourism products, focusing on high-end island and beach tourism, heritage, cultural, and spiritual tourism, urban tourism linked to the night economy, MICE tourism, river tourism, and agro-ecological tourism, and golf tourism. Tourism development will be oriented towards green and sustainable practices, linked to the conservation of resources and the ecological environment.
Hai Phong is continuing to implement solutions to transform itself into a City of Music, including leveraging the potential of the Hoa Phuong Theater and the City Theater to attract tourists by organizing international and national-level concerts and art performances, live shows by famous artists, and accompanying tourism packages; organizing music festivals, building music venues and street art performance spots; and creating music videos promoting tourism featuring top national and international stars. This is also a crucial "key" to the city's tourism development in the future.
Furthermore, the department advises the city to continue prioritizing investment in key tourism infrastructure, especially infrastructure connecting Cat Ba, urban parking lots, and large-scale entertainment and resort complexes capable of hosting regional and international events. Promotion and marketing efforts should focus on developing professional, targeted communication campaigns aimed strongly at the international market and high-spending tourist segments. Annually, Cat Ba accounts for one-third of the total number of tourists visiting Hai Phong city. By 2026, Cat Ba aims to welcome 4.75 million tourists.
According to Mr. Vu Huu Vinh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cat Hai Special Zone (the administrative unit managing Cat Ba Archipelago), to achieve this goal, the locality will strengthen propaganda, promotion, and advertising of Cat Ba tourism with diverse and rich forms on various media; coordinate with agencies and units to effectively implement the conservation and promotion of the value of the Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago World Natural Heritage Site.
The beauty of Lan Ha Bay as seen from above. Photo: Minh Duc/TTXVN
"Improving the effectiveness of state management over cultural and tourism service business activities, promptly inspecting and rectifying violations, and strictly handling cases of violations; building a safe, civilized, and friendly tourism environment; accelerating the process of preparing the dossier to request recognition of Cat Ba Archipelago as a National Tourist Area; and continuing to implement the digital transformation tasks for tourism in phase 2," Mr. Vu Huu Vinh said.
Mr. Bui Van Song, Head of Sales at Paradise Hotel in Cat Ba tourist area, said that in the future, Cat Ba will become a bright spot in the North because it possesses many factors for development such as: a bay, a national park, and many attractive check-in points for tourists. "However, relevant authorities need to continue to pay attention to and overcome limitations and shortcomings, especially the issue of transportation from the mainland to the island. In addition, state management agencies need to have fundamental solutions to maintain stable prices for tourism products in Cat Ba," Mr. Bui Van Song suggested.
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/du-lich/di-san-the-gioi-diem-nhan-thu-hut-du-khach-toi-hai-phong-20260114082225395.htm
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