Lang Son: Travel with passport attracts visitors

Simple procedures, no long waiting, that is the advantage of traveling by passport. Recently, Lang Son province's tourism industry has proactively implemented many solutions to promote the development of this type of tourism.

Representatives of Lang Son Province Tourism Association and representatives of Bang Tuong travel companies signed a cooperation agreement to build and exploit a 2-day, 1-night tour for Chinese tourists using travel documents to Lang Son.

Traveling by passport (or travel book) is a form of cross-border travel between countries that share a border, using a travel document instead of a passport. A travel document is issued by a competent authority, allowing citizens to pass through border gates and operate within a certain scope.

International visitors increase

According to a report from the Border Guard Station of Huu Nghi International Border Gate, since the 2-day, 1-night tourist route between Lang Son (Vietnam) and Pingxiang (China) with official travel documents came into operation (late April 2025), the number of Chinese tourists has increased sharply. In the first 6 months of 2025, the authorities at the border gate processed procedures for more than 1.24 million people, an increase of 16% over the same period in 2024.

In particular, the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Lang Son with passports in the first 6 months of 2025 reached over 50,000 (an increase of 70% compared to the same period in 2024). This demonstrates the potential and positivity of the passport-based tourism route.

Leaders of Pingxiang town, Guangxi (China) presented flowers and souvenirs to the first group of Vietnamese tourists participating in the 2-day-1-night tour program with passports.

Mr. Hoang Vu San, a tourist from Nanning, China, said: The travel procedures with a passport are very quick, convenient, and time-saving, which helped me spend all my time exploring the unique things in Lang Son province. I went to Tam Thanh Pagoda and some shopping centers in Lang Son and found them very beautiful. I also really liked the roasted duck and sour pho here, especially the friendliness and hospitality of the people. I will definitely come back with my family next time.

To achieve the above positive results, the provincial tourism industry has recently promoted cooperation and linkage activities to develop tourism with China. Since 2024, there have been 8 meetings between relevant agencies of Lang Son and Pingxiang town to promote cross-border tourism activities. Notably, the announcement ceremony of the 2-day, 1-night tour program for tourists using travel documents was jointly organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (VHTTDL) of Lang Son province and the People's Government of Pingxiang town on April 29 at Huu Nghi International Border Gate.

Mr. Luu Ba Mac, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the province, said: In recent times, the friendly cooperation relationship between Lang Son province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (China) has increasingly developed in depth, comprehensively and substantially. On that basis, the tourism industry of both sides has had many coordination, exchange and promotion activities to connect, improve service quality and increase the number of tourists crossing the border. In particular, the highlight is the 2-day, 1-night tour program with a passport for Vietnamese tourists traveling in Pingxiang, Guangxi and Chinese tourists traveling in Lang Son province. This activity not only creates favorable conditions for tourists from both sides to visit and experience culture, cuisine, scenic spots, etc., but also contributes to strengthening friendship, people-to-people exchange, and promoting socio-economic development. In the coming time, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lang Son will continue to make efforts and closely coordinate with the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to continuously improve the efficiency and quality of cross-border tourism activities, creating a premise to further promote the development of service tourism, contributing to the common development of both sides.

Link, cooperate, diversify tourism products

In recent times, many cooperation, promotion and tourism promotion activities between Lang Son and Pingxiang have been organized. Specifically, on July 9, 2025, the Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion (XTĐT, TM&DL) of Lang Son province organized a survey team to build a 2-day, 1-night tourist route at tourist destinations in the province with the participation of a delegation from Pingxiang, Guangxi. On July 10, the Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion continued to hold a meeting with a delegation from Pingxiang on building and exploiting 2-day, 1-night package tours for Chinese tourists using travel documents to Lang Son. At the event, tourism and travel businesses of Lang Son and Bang Tuong signed a cooperation agreement in building and exploiting a 2-day-1-night tourist route with the main cooperation contents such as: Exchange and cooperation in supporting and facilitating the reception of tourist groups of the parties; providing information on the market situation, tourists, tours, tourist routes, and destinations of the parties; coordinating and promoting the implementation of images of tourism programs and supporting the provision of information on tourism activities, tourism products of businesses, information on promotional programs, incentives, etc.

Chinese tourists visit Tam Thanh Pagoda, Tam Thanh Ward, Lang Son Province.

Mr. Ly Xuan Thach, Director of Thanh Vu Trade and Tourism Company Limited, Lang Son Province, said: The signing of cooperation between tourism businesses of the two sides has created a solid legal basis to strengthen the relationship of cooperation, connection, and provision of comprehensive tourism services between tourism businesses of the two countries. Through the implementation of tourism products using travel documents, I have seen that Vietnamese and Chinese tourists are very excited. Compared to the first 6 months of last year, the number of tourists using my company's services has increased by 50%. We are continuing to coordinate with businesses of Bang Tuong to provide high-quality services, meeting the increasingly diverse needs of tourists.

Thanks to practical solutions, up to now, Lang Son province and Bang Tuong town have formed 7 tourist routes for tourists using travel documents. Specifically, Lang Son province has built 4 2-day-1-night tourist programs for Chinese tourists using travel documents to Lang Son, including: tourism in the wards; Huu Lien community eco-tourism (Huu Lien commune) and wards; Quynh Son community cultural tourism (Bac Son commune) and wards; tourism combining communes and wards in the border economic zone.

Pingxiang, Guangxi, China has also developed and implemented 3 2-day-1-night tour programs for Vietnamese tourists using travel passes to Pingxiang, including: cultural tourism and some entertainment areas of Pingxiang; tourism of scenic spots, health care products and commercial centers of Pingxiang; tourism to learn about science and technology at science and technology centers of Pingxiang.

The initial success of the passport tours has opened up a potential direction for border tourism. However, for this tour to continue to develop further, close coordination between management agencies and tourism businesses on both sides is needed, along with synchronous investment in infrastructure and diversification of products at tourist destinations. This is aimed at improving service quality, bringing deeper and more unique experiences to tourists, thereby affirming the position and sustainable attraction of Lang Son tourism in the coming time.

"With 30 years of working in the field of border tourism, I have never seen tourism between the two countries develop as quickly and strongly as it does today. Tourism procedures are being promoted much faster. I am really impressed with the development of tourist destinations in Lang Son province, especially Mau Son route, where the climate and landscape are extremely wonderful. The houses with French architecture and the 6-fingered chicken dish are very attractive to Chinese tourists. I believe that Mau Son still has a lot of potential for Lang Son to exploit more effectively. In order for tourism products, especially the 2-day-1-night tour with a passport, to achieve good results, I think that Lang Son's authorities and sectors need to continue to make efforts to improve facilities, improve service quality and constantly seek and bring new experiences to tourists. At the same time, businesses on both sides need to continue to unite and support each other to bring the best tourism products to tourists. "We hope to welcome more visitors in the near future" - Ms. Luong Van Yen, Director of Hoa Binh International Tourism Company (Pingxiang, China) shared.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/lang-son-du-lich-bang-giay-thong-hanh-hut-khach-20250721141256497.htm