Opening the way to make Soc Son a key tourist destination in the North of the Capital

Survey of Viet Phu Thanh Chuong.

Advantages of the semi-mountainous region

Soc Son District is located in the North of the Capital, with a diverse terrain with a large system of hills, mountains, lakes, and forests, interspersed to create a very rich natural landscape. That helps Soc Son have many famous destinations such as: Soc Mountain, Doi Mountain, Dong Quan Lake, Dong Do Lake, Ham Lon Lake with a total water surface area of up to thousands of hectares.

In addition, Soc Son is also a place rich in cultural resources with a system of famous cultural relics, landscapes, and festivals. In the district, there are 341 historical and cultural relics and places of worship with 174 festivals held annually. Of which, 1 relic is ranked as a special national relic, 16 relics are ranked as national relics, 44 relics are ranked as cities, 1 world intangible cultural heritage (Giong Festival - Soc Temple)...

Tourists enjoy the flock of pigeons released naturally at Soc Temple. Photo: Hoang Quyen

Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Soc Son district, Tran Kien, said that in the planning of tourism development in Hanoi until 2020, with a vision to 2030, the Soc mountain - Dong Quan lake tourism cluster is identified as one of the 6 key tourism clusters of the city with the following products: Spiritual tourism associated with the Gióng festival and the system of temples, pagodas, religious works; weekend eco-tourism associated with Dong Quan lake, Dong Do lake...; sports tourism, entertainment, Soc Son horse racing track.

Currently, the district has 204 accommodation establishments with a total of 1,454 rooms. It is expected that the scale will reach 5,000 rooms by 2030. In 2022, after the Covid-19 epidemic is controlled, the number of visitors to Soc Son will reach 950,000 to 1 million.

Non Pagoda relic complex. Photo: Hoang Quyen

Assessing the tourism potential of Soc Son district, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism Tran Trung Hieu said that Soc Son has a lot of potential and advantages to become a key tourist destination in the North of the capital. Currently, the district has a number of well-known tourism products. In addition to spiritual and cultural tourism, Soc Son has added types of eco-tourism, experience tourism, sports tourism (golf, Ultra Trail running, off-road racing...). In addition, Soc Son also has a number of attractive linked tours: Soc temple relic tour - Non pagoda - Thanh Giong monument - Viet Phu Thanh Chuong; Soc temple relic tour - Minh Tri golf course; Soc temple relic tour - Legend hill golf course.

“With the advantage of being close to Noi Bai International Airport, Soc Son can become an attractive accommodation and experience destination for domestic and international tourists,” Mr. Tran Trung Hieu assessed.

Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism Tran Trung Hieu.

Determine strategy, product positioning

Although identified as a key tourist area of the capital, Soc Son tourism is still considered to have not developed commensurate with its potential. The number of visitors is still limited.

Regarding this issue, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Soc Son district, Tran Kien, admitted that Soc Son's current limitation is that it does not have 3-star hotels or higher, and the number of hotels that can accommodate large groups is still low. In addition, Soc Son does not have many entertainment venues; there are not many famous restaurants; local products are still monotonous. In addition, many tourism development projects are behind schedule; tourism service personnel have not been properly trained.

Contributing to Soc Son district to open up development directions for tourism, Vice President of Hanoi Tourism Association Hoang Thi Diep said that the district needs to have a systematic planning and synchronous implementation, at the same time, there must be breakthrough policies to attract investment; tourism human resources must be professional with a civilized attitude; and attention must be paid to digital tourism.

Sharing his experience in tourism business, Mr. Vu Van Tuyen, Vice President of Vietnam Community Tourism Association, Director of Travelogy Travel Company, said that besides developing spiritual tourism, Soc Son can promote the development of healing tourism, eco-tourism, and create products "from farm to table".

According to Vice President of Unesco Travel Club, Director of Anh Duong Tour Company Nguyen Tuan Anh suggested that business units in Soc Son need to proactively promote tourism products and services that have been established in the district, including taking advantage of the proximity to Noi Bai International Airport to promote services at the airport.

In addition, Soc Son should take advantage of its mountainous terrain and many beautiful roads to organize running races to attract tourists. "The UNESCO Travel Club with 1,200 members will launch a Soc Son tourism information channel in the near future," said Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh.

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