Discovering the Homeland: Four seasons, one journey

The merger of the three provinces of Phu Tho - Vinh Phuc - Hoa Binh not only opens up a new economic space, but also creates a tourist area with the richest identity and potential in the North. From the sacred heritage of the Hung Kings' Land to the beautiful landscapes and modern resort systems, Phu Tho is striving to become the leading cultural, ecological and resort tourism center in the North, attracting millions of tourists each year.

Building seamless, connected products and journeys

After July 1, 2025, when Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc and Hoa Binh merge, Phu Tho will enter a completely different development chapter. The vast space, rich natural resources and diverse cultural identity have opened up opportunities to turn the Ancestral Land into a year-round destination, while also posing new challenges for the tourism industry.

Come to Phu Tho once, listen to the Xoan melody resounding in the ancient village communal house, to feel the soul of the homeland through each old song.

The highlight is the resonance of three regions: old Phu Tho with its heritage of worshipping Hung Kings, Xoan singing and hundreds of traditional festivals; Vinh Phuc with its dynamic economic advantages, modern tourism infrastructure and resorts in Tam Dao and Dai Lai; Hoa Binh with its majestic rivers, lakes, mountains and unique cultures of the Muong, Thai and Dao ethnic groups. This combination makes the new Phu Tho not only a land of festivals, but also a land of diverse tourism: spiritual, ecological, resort, community, experiential agriculture, adventure sports and conference and seminar tourism. Tourists can now experience a complete journey: morning pilgrimage to Hung Temple to pay tribute to the Hung Kings, afternoon cruise on the majestic Hoa Binh lake, and evening relaxation in the fresh, cool space of the resort on the top of Tam Dao - all in the same trip.

The strong growth of tourism is demonstrated by the numbers: by July 2025, the province has 2,778 relics, nearly 1,000 ranked relics, 6 special national relics and 6 national treasures; nearly 2,000 intangible heritages, of which 5 are recognized by UNESCO. In the first 6 months of the year, the whole province welcomed about 14.5 million visitors, with revenue reaching more than 14,800 billion VND, an average growth of over 10%/year.

The upgraded accommodation system with more than 1,500 establishments, 20,000 rooms, many 4-5 star hotels are capable of serving high-end customers. The strategic geographical location of Viet Tri - the provincial administrative center, less than 80 km from Hanoi, conveniently connected via Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway, national highways 2 and 32 - further helps Phu Tho become an ideal destination, ready to welcome a wave of domestic and foreign tourists.

Recognizing the unique “three-in-one” advantage, Phu Tho tourism industry has quickly built seamless products and itineraries, connecting destinations for tourists to fully explore culture, nature and relaxation. Traditional festivals such as Hung King’s death anniversary, Tay Thien festival, Muong ethnic group’s opening festival… are now no longer local events, but have been upgraded to cultural and tourism events of the whole province, with larger scale, more diverse content and stronger influence.

In particular, the Cultural - Tourism Week of the Ancestral Land in the year of At Ty 2025 has become a unique brand of Phu Tho. The event not only has a solemn ceremony, but also a series of unique cultural, artistic, sports and culinary activities, attracting hundreds of thousands of domestic and international tourists, creating a strong push, contributing to raising the level of the local tourism industry.

Mai Chau Commune - Phu Tho Province in rice harvest season

Located next to the poetic Hoa Binh Lake, Thung Nai has long been known as "Ha Long on the mountain" with majestic landscapes, peaceful villages and rich ethnic culture. After merging 3 more communes, Thung Nai increasingly converges the potential for developing commodity agriculture and eco-tourism and spiritual tourism. The convenient traffic system, along with destinations such as Ngoi Hoa Bay, Thac Bo Temple and community tourism villages, helps Thung Nai attract nearly 380 thousand visitors in 2025, bringing in revenue of more than 93 billion VND. In addition to the landscape, Thung Nai is also famous for clean agriculture and seafood, specialties of catfish, black carp... aiming to build the brand "Thung Nai clean fish", both improving people's lives and creating its own appeal on the Northern tourism map. Tourism and services have flourished with community tourism spots, attracting investment and tourists, contributing to creating livelihoods, shifting economic structure and elevating the Thung Nai brand on the Northern tourism map.

According to the Party Secretary of Thung Nai Commune, Nguyen Tran Anh, the locality's goal by 2030 is to achieve advanced new rural standards, develop agriculture, tourism and services as pillars, while preserving culture and protecting the ecological environment. To realize this goal, Thung Nai focuses on developing high-tech agriculture, organic agriculture, maintaining citrus fruit growing areas, restructuring sugarcane areas and building the "Thung Nai clean fish" brand. In tourism, the commune prioritizes completing infrastructure at Thung Nai port, Thac Bo temple, community tourism villages and heritage parks, and connecting eco-spiritual tourism with festivals and relics. At the same time, the locality focuses on building a clean and strong Party, promoting solidarity, ensuring security and order and improving the spiritual life of the people.

Digital transformation – The door for Phu Tho tourism to take off

Currently, smart tourism has become an inevitable trend. Realizing this, Phu Tho province has pioneered the application of digital transformation, not only improving the experience of tourists but also optimizing the management of the tourism industry.

Community Tourism Site of Mo Hamlet, Thung Nai Commune, Phu Tho Province

A digital tourism ecosystem is gradually taking shape. Mobile apps with interactive maps help tourists easily search for information, locate destinations, book hotels, sightseeing tickets and other services with just a few taps. Multilingual audio guide technology has been deployed at key relics such as Hung Temple, helping international tourists explore and understand more deeply about historical and cultural values.

Technology infrastructure at tourist attractions has also been upgraded significantly. Free wifi systems and check-in points using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology are becoming increasingly popular, providing new and interesting experiences and encouraging visitors to share images and promote Phu Tho tourism on social networks.

Tourism promotion and advertising work has also been thoroughly "digitalized". Instead of traditional methods, the province promotes marketing on digital channels, cooperates with travel bloggers and KOLs at home and abroad to spread the appeal of Dat To Tourism, especially to young people.

The relentless efforts have brought “sweet fruits”. In the first 9 months of 2025, Phu Tho welcomed 3.65 million overnight guests, including 95,000 international visitors. Total revenue from tourism activities reached nearly 12 trillion VND, affirming that tourism is becoming a key economic sector of the province.

Phu Tho Ancestral Land booth at the first Autumn Fair 2025

Faced with this potential, many large corporations have boldly invested in tourism and resort projects worth thousands of billions of VND. The groundbreaking of the Cuoi Ha cable car system or the Serena Resort project are positive signals, promising to create high-class tourism products, meeting the diverse needs of domestic and foreign tourists.

At the same time, intangible cultural heritage values ​​continue to be preserved and promoted. The dossiers of 4 heritages have been included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages, especially the Mo Muong dossier proposed to UNESCO for recognition as a heritage in need of urgent protection. This is not only a source of pride but also creates unique cultural tourism products, only available in Phu Tho.

Phu Tho has implemented synchronous and effective tourism promotion activities, with strong communication on digital platforms such as dulichphutho.gov.vn, visitphutho.vn, YouTube "Dat To" and TikTok Phu Tho Tourism, combined with central and local press and television to spread tourism images to domestic and foreign tourists.

Two major promotional events stand out: in Korea (KITS Fair, July 18–21, 2025), the province introduces spiritual, ecological, resort and MICE tourism products to potential partners; in Ho Chi Minh City (ITE HCMC Fair 2025, August 25–September 15, 2025), the Dat To booth attracts tourists thanks to Hung Temple tours at night, Xoan singing, and community ecotourism.

In addition, Phu Tho actively participates in domestic programs such as "Colors of Tourism of the Ancestral Land - Phu Tho 2025", the 21st Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival, the Hanoi International Tourism Fair or the Ban Flower Festival (Dien Bien), expanding opportunities to promote tourism images and products to the public.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa, Director of Phu Tho Tourism Promotion Center, the merger of the three provinces opens up a new, diverse and attractive development space, creating opportunities for Phu Tho to strengthen promotion, advertising and building a common tourism brand, while maintaining the unique characteristics of each region.

In the coming time, the province will focus on key products and inter-provincial tours connecting Phu Tho - Hoa Binh - Vinh Phuc, targeting international visitors with long stays and high spending; applying digital transformation, enhancing promotion on digital platforms; participating in domestic and international events, welcoming famtrips, KOLs, and bloggers to spread the tourism image. At the same time, the province will build a new brand identity, harmonizing tradition and modernity.

These orientations help the tourism of the Ancestral Land develop sustainably, consolidate the central role in the economic structure of the three provinces' unified space, and at the same time promote the national cultural identity, creating the image of the Ancestral Land - the origin of the Vietnamese people, safe, friendly and attractive. Phu Tho tourism is expected to become an important driving force, a bridge bringing tourists closer to the unique cultural and natural values ​​of the Northern Midlands and Mountains, contributing to realizing the goal of sustainability and international integration.

Panoramic view of the terraced fields festival in the Hill Region, Lac Son, Phu Tho province (formerly Hoa Binh province).

Diversify products to retain tourists

Phu Tho, the gateway to the midlands, is an ideal transit point for tourists from Hanoi to the Northwestern provinces, with the potential to become the first stop on their journey to explore the North. However, besides the advantages, local tourism still faces many challenges: seasonality makes many places deserted outside the festival season, infrastructure in mountainous areas is not yet synchronized, electricity - water - internet services are limited, human resources lack professional tourism service skills, while brand promotion is not strong enough.

To retain tourists all year round, Phu Tho needs to diversify its products: build “four-season” tours – spring to participate in festivals, summer to explore lakes, waterfalls, mineral spring resorts, autumn to experience agriculture and craft villages, winter to hunt clouds and enjoy local cuisine. Cultural – sports – culinary events should also be organized regularly to maintain a continuous flow of visitors.

In particular, community tourism is a strategic direction. The old Hoa Binh region with Muong, Thai, Dao villages has the advantage of developing homestays, the experience of "living with local people", not only to retain guests for a long time, but also to bring direct benefits to the community, turning tourism into a driving force for sustainable development.

Infrastructure – the key to keeping tourists. To attract and retain visitors, Phu Tho needs to upgrade transportation, improve intra-regional connectivity, and ensure basic services such as electricity, water, telecommunications and waste treatment. Reasonable planning, preserved landscapes and complete experiences will create a deep impression and encourage visitors to return.

Phu Tho participates in "Festival of the Quintessence of the Northwest - Dien Bien 2025"

Human resources – the soul of tourism. The province needs to promote training, cooperate with prestigious tourism schools, open professional training courses and encourage the community to participate in on-site training. When people become “tourism ambassadors”, they not only welcome tourists with smiles but also tell stories about local culture and history, turning each trip into a memorable experience.

Promotion – need to innovate to stand out. In the digital age, Phu Tho should build a brand identity “Dat To Tourism – four seasons of experience”, strengthen digital communication, cooperate with travel agencies, bloggers, KOLs to spread the local image. Each destination needs to have its “own story” associated with history, culture and people, creating a distinct and unmistakable mark.

Regional linkage – expanding influence. Tourists rarely visit just one province; they often choose interconnected itineraries. Phu Tho needs to coordinate closely with Hanoi and the northern mountainous provinces to build closed tours, for example: Hanoi – Viet Tri – Hoa Binh Lake – Tam Dao Tourist Area – Sa Pa. When becoming a link in an attractive chain of itineraries, Phu Tho will not only welcome a natural flow of visitors but also affirm its important position on the regional tourism map.

To make these solutions a reality, the role of the government and businesses is indispensable. The government needs to build an open and preferential mechanism for tourism investment, while strengthening management, conservation and ensuring sustainable development. Businesses must boldly invest in new products, improve service quality and connect with the community to develop together. Phu Tho Tourism Association, after merging from three old associations, needs to truly become a bridge, a place to gather the will and common actions of the entire industry.

Phu Tho – the land of Hung Kings – is a place where unique historical, cultural and natural values ​​converge. After the merger, the province is facing a great opportunity to turn those values ​​into sustainable development strength. However, to retain tourists all year round, it is impossible to rely solely on the “cradle of history”; it requires breakthrough thinking, decisive action and a methodical strategy.

When advantages become experiences, when each season has a reason for tourists to return, when each resident becomes a "friendly ambassador" of the land - Phu Tho will not only be a place to remember, but also a place to return to...

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Chuyen-dong-van-hoa/kham-pha-dat-to-bon-mua-mot-hanh-trinh-i786893/