Exploiting "culinary passport" to develop Thanh Hoa tourism with rich identity

For Thanh Hoa, the rich culinary treasure has become a special "passport", contributing to promoting and positioning a destination with a strong identity in the integration journey.

Nem chua - A special culinary gift of Thanh land.

In recent years, the province has maintained the organization of large-scale culinary cultural events and festivals annually, thereby promoting and enhancing local cultural values, linking with tourism development. In October 2025, the Thanh Hoa Culinary Cultural Festival 2025 took place in Hac Thanh ward, with the theme "Bold identity - Brilliant quintessence" attracting more than 400,000 visitors. More than 150 booths from many localities inside and outside the province gathered, in which the province's booths introduced many typical dishes, products, processing demonstration spaces, folk experience activities, traditional games... creating a vivid picture of the "flavor - color - taste" of Thanh Hoa. In this cultural space, familiar dishes such as nem chua, banh gai Tu Tru, cha tom, goi nhech, nem ong Nhu Thanh... to OCOP products are processed and packaged appropriately for tourists to buy as gifts, all of which exude a creative spirit in preserving identity.

Speaking at this event, Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh pointed out: “Cuisine is a unique tourism product, capable of creating competitive advantages, enhancing the attractiveness of destinations and contributing to positioning the national tourism brand. In fact, Vietnamese cuisine has made an impression when participating in international promotion events, showing great potential for cuisine to become one of the national brands, along with heritage and nature in promoting the country's image. In that general picture, Thanh Hoa - a land rich in historical and cultural traditions has all the conditions to become a unique culinary tourism center. Possessing a treasure trove of unique cuisine such as nem chua, cha tom, banh gai, goi ca nhech, nem rau ma ... are typical products that have the ability to create strong attraction for tourists. When standardized, upgraded and associated with tourism experiences, Thanh Hoa cuisine will become one of the important pillars to enhance "High competitiveness of destinations".

Realizing the potential for tourism development associated with cuisine, Le Gia traditional fish sauce factory (Hoang Thanh commune) has pioneered in connecting the traditional fish sauce making profession with the construction of an experiential tourism destination. At this experiential destination, visitors can not only enjoy the typical fish sauce flavor of Thanh land but also be guided on how to recognize good fish sauce, learn about the fermentation process, and listen to stories about the fish sauce making profession of the coastal residents of Thanh land.

Mr. Le Anh, Director of Le Gia Food and Trade Services Company Limited shared: “We not only want to introduce the flavor of Thanh Hoa fish sauce but also want visitors to feel the story behind each drop of fish sauce - that is the effort and dedication of the coastal people. Coming to the fish sauce barrel house, visitors will participate in many experiential activities such as visiting the barrel house, learning about the process of making fish sauce and fish sauce and enjoying some specialties of the coastal people... Through products and tourism experiences, Le Gia fish sauce wants to convey to visitors an image of Thanh Hoa, prosperous, peaceful and civilized”.

Through the cuisine at the 2025 Autumn Fair, Le Gia fish sauce wants to promote to tourists an image of a prosperous and peaceful Thanh Hoa.

Up to now, many craft villages and specialty production facilities in the province have combined performances, experiences and on-site shopping services for tourists such as Tu Tru sticky rice cake craft village, sour sausage production facilities, ethnic specialties in mountainous communes Ba Thuoc, Pu Luong, Linh Son... From the perspective of experts, developing culinary tourism not only has the meaning of promoting delicious and unique dishes, but is also a way for Thanh Hoa tourism to create its own identity, different from other localities. That is also the new approach of tourism in the province in the coming time - taking experience as the center, taking culture as the fulcrum for development.

However, for cuisine to truly become the "passport" of Thanh Hoa tourism, there needs to be more systematic and synchronous investment. Ensuring food safety, designing specialized culinary tours, building digital culinary maps, promoting through online platforms... are things that need to be strongly implemented. At the same time, it is necessary to encourage businesses to continue to be creative, expand the experience space, and connect with tours and tourist routes inside and outside the province.

From the fragrant fish sauce drops, to the fragrant sticky rice cake, sour sausage or eel salad... all bear a strong cultural imprint, expressing the soul and creative working spirit of the land and people of Thanh Hoa. When cuisine is exploited as a "cultural passport", tourists come to Thanh Hoa not only to sightsee, but also to feel and live in the unique indigenous cultural space. That is the way to help Thanh Hoa tourism develop sustainably, spreading more widely on the tourism map of Vietnam.

Article and photos: Hoai Anh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/khai-thac-ho-chieu-am-thuc-de-phat-trien-nbsp-du-lich-thanh-hoa-dam-da-ban-sac-268777.htm