Connecting "blue sea - great forest" tourism opens up new opportunities

The merger of Phu Yen and Dak Lak is attracting public attention not only from an administrative perspective but also from a multi-sector socio-economic development potential, especially in the tourism industry. In particular, the development of inter-regional tourism products “blue sea - great forest” will become a highlight, contributing to the formation of a unique east-west tourism route, connecting nature, culture and climate between the coastal region and the Central Highlands.

An art performance by the Dak Lak Tourism Association attracted audiences at the Phu Yen Tourism Fair held in April 2025. Photo: TRAN QUOI

The sea calls the forest - a two-way tourism door

Phu Yen is a coastal province in the South Central region, possessing a 189km long coastline with many bays, cliffs, islands, and beautiful beaches such as: Ganh Da Dia, Bai Xep, Xuan Dai Bay, Vung Ro, Bai Mon - Mui Dien - the place to welcome the first sunrise on the mainland of Vietnam. Meanwhile, Dak Lak is famous for its Central Highlands gong culture space, primeval forests, majestic waterfalls such as Dray Nur, Yok Don, Lak Lake - places associated with epics, legendary legends of the Ede, M'Nong people...

While Phu Yen has a sunny season that lasts almost all year round, the Central Highlands, especially Dak Lak, has a distinct and especially opposite rainy season: Phu Yen is in the peak sunny season, while Dak Lak is in the long rainy season. This contrast is not an obstacle, but on the contrary, it creates favorable conditions for building additional seasonal tourism products between the two regions. When the rainy season begins to pour down on the Central Highlands, it is also the time when Phu Yen sea enters the beautiful sunny season, with calm waves and calm seas - an ideal destination for tourists from the highlands to go to the sea to "escape the rain".

On the contrary, when the Phu Yen coastal area begins the monsoon season, tourists from Tuy Hoa can completely go upstream along Highway 29 or Highway 25 to explore the vast Dak Lak - where winter is not dreary with rain and wind but the beautiful sunshine lasts until spring when the forests are green, coffee trees bloom and wild sunflowers are in full bloom.

Tourists in Dak Lak are excited about the tourism slogan “Go to Phu Yen”. Photo: TRAN QUOI

Phu Yen - gateway to the East Sea

Dak Lak - the province with the largest natural area in the Central Highlands, a large population and a rapidly increasing demand for beach tourism. With a distance from the center of Buon Ma Thuot City to Tuy Hoa of only about 200km along National Highway 29, equivalent to about 4 hours by car, this is the shortest route for Dak Lak residents to access the sea.

According to statistics from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, during the April 30 and May 1 holidays, the whole province welcomed about 85,000 visitors for sightseeing and relaxation, an increase of 55% over the same period last year. The total number of guests staying is estimated at 52,700, an increase of 42% over the same period. Of which, the market of visitors from the Central Highlands provinces accounts for the majority. Coastal hotels such as Sala Grand Tuy Hoa, Rosa Alba Resort, Stelia Beach Resort, Sao Mai Beach Resort, Mandala Hotel & Spa Phu Yen, hotels and homestays near the sea reached 100% room occupancy during the peak days of the holiday. Beach tourism service destinations such as Long Thuy, Bai Xep, Tuy Hoa beach, Bai Mon - Mui Dien, Vung Ro... were all crowded with tourists with license plates from Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum...

“My family lives in Buon Ma Thuot, and every summer or holiday we go down to Tuy Hoa because the beach here is beautiful, the cost is reasonable, the food is delicious, and now that we are preparing to merge into one house, we are even closer and more intimate,” said Tran Van Nhan, a tourist from Dak Lak. This is also the common trend of many people in the land of coffee today: choosing Phu Yen as a friendly, close, and easy-to-go beach tourist destination.

Building sea-forest linkage products

In fact, it is not until now that tourism professionals from the two localities have thought about regional linkage and the development of complementary tourism products, but this has been proposed and implemented quite early. That is, since before the policy of Phu Yen and Dak Lak merging, the development of sea and forest tourism products between the two localities has been considered a model of regional development linkage. This is an inevitable trend in the context of tourists increasingly preferring comprehensive experiences, diverse landscapes, climates and cultures.

Based on the Master Plan for Tourism Development in the Central Highlands and the Master Plan for Tourism Development in the South Central Coast to 2020, with a vision to 2030 approved by the Prime Minister, in 2022, the leaders of the People's Committees of 6 provinces (Binh Dinh, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Quang Ngai, Kon Tum and Phu Yen) agreed to sign a cooperation agreement on tourism development for the period 2022-2027. The goal is to maximize the tourism resources of each locality, exploit resources reasonably, create momentum for tourism development, contribute to promoting socio-economic development, create jobs, and improve the lives of local communities. At the same time, form common tours with the unique characteristics of each locality, aiming to build a common brand; promote, advertise and introduce the image of the land and people of each locality to domestic and foreign tourists in order to expand and develop the market.

To further enhance the understanding and connection between the tourism business community of Phu Yen and Dak Lak, at the end of May, Phu Yen Tourism Association agreed to coordinate with Dak Lak Tourism Association to organize a 3-day famtrip to Dak Lak (from May 30 to June 1). Currently, a large number of travel, hotel, restaurant, transportation and gift businesses are interested and have registered for this famtrip to strengthen connections, cooperation and open up new opportunities...

Chairman of Phu Yen Tourism Association Ho Van Tien

In the current context, this connection changes greatly when the two localities come together, so promoting the advantages of the sea and forest to create tourism products is obvious.

Mr. Dang Hong Linh, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: In recent years, the tourism industry of Phu Yen and Dak Lak with provinces in the South Central Coast and Central Highlands regions have cooperated to promote the unique strengths of each locality. For example, in international tourism fairs held in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the group of provinces in the cluster built a common booth to introduce regional products of "ocean in harmony with the great forest".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Vy, Director of Bien Viet Tour Tourism Service Company Limited (Phu Yen) said: “For a long time, our travel businesses have maintained tours connecting the two provinces of Phu Yen - Dak Lak with sea - forest tourism products. Now the opportunity is even clearer to attract tourists within the province between the two regions. For tourists from other provinces, Bien Viet Tour is expanding to build many tours combining festival visits and exploring Dak Lak nature to bring the most complete experiences to tourists”.

It can be said that the cooperation in tourism development between Phu Yen and Dak Lak is opening up many great opportunities, helping to effectively exploit the tourism resources of the two provinces. Continued investment, diversification of tourism products and improvement of infrastructure will help Phu Yen and Dak Lak open up a unique "sea - forest tourism axis" in the Central - Central Highlands region. The concretization of the linkage not only helps to improve the competitiveness of destinations, but also affirms the central role of the inter-region in sustainable tourism development, becoming an attractive tourism brand, raising it to a new height on the tourism map of Vietnam.

Source: https://baophuyen.vn/du-lich/202505/ket-noidu-lich-bien-xanh-dai-ngan-mo-ra-co-hoi-moi-f6a15e0/