Adjusting the Planning to Create Momentum for Developing Lake Hoa Binh National Tourism Area

On the afternoon of August 12, Mr. Vu Viet Van — Standing Committee Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee (PPC) — chaired a conference to hear reports on adjusting the Master Plan for Lake Hoa Binh National Tourism Area through 2035, with a vision to 2050. Also attending were representatives of the PPC Office leadership and relevant departments, sectors, units, and localities.

Vice Chairman of the PPC Vu Viet Van delivers directing remarks at the conference.

At the conference, the consulting unit clarified the necessity and presented key contents of the Adjusted Master Plan Project for Lake Hoa Binh National Tourism Area through 2035, with a vision to 2050. Accordingly, the Master Plan for Lake Hoa Binh National Tourism Area was approved in 2021, and has now reached the required review milestone under regulatory provisions. The implementation process also revealed inconsistencies with commune-level planning and related plans, leading to overlaps across planning levels.

On the other hand, the administrative unit restructuring at the provincial level has altered the scope, spatial structure, and management and development requirements of the region. The role and status of the Lake Hoa Binh Tourism Area within the broader tourism system have evolved; several new infrastructure projects have been invested in, including the Hoa Binh - Moc Chau Expressway, creating an urgent need to update spatial organization, land use, and infrastructure connectivity.

Given these realities, adjusting the plan is essential to ensure legal compliance and synchronization with the multi-tier planning system. It provides a foundation for directing infrastructure investment, attracting resources for tourism development, and effectively exploiting the area’s potential and competitive advantages while protecting resources, the environment, and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for lakeside residents.

A representative of the consulting unit presents the main contents of the planning project.

According to the project, the adjusted planning encompasses parts of the administrative boundaries of several communes and wards, covering a total area of 52,200 hectares. The objective is to develop the Lake Hoa Binh Tourism Area into a key tourism destination for the Northern Mid-Land and Mountainous Region in a green, sustainable, and identity-rich direction; striving by 2050 to become a high-quality lake, resort, eco-tourism, and cultural destination for the nation and Southeast Asia.

The plan targets the effective exploitation of water surface, forest, landscape, and indigenous cultural advantages to develop diverse tourism products. Tourism space will be organized around a multi-center model, enhancing connectivity between sub-regions and resorts.

Alongside tourism development, the plan mandates guaranteeing water security, reservoir safety, forest protection, landscape and ecosystem conservation, and sustainable local livelihoods. The transport system is studied to strengthen connections with inter-regional transport networks, updating access routes to the Hoa Binh - Moc Chau Expressway, lakeside roads, and inland waterway transport systems.

Leaders of the Department of Finance speak and contribute opinions at the conference.

Exchanging views at the conference, delegates agreed on the necessity of adjusting the planning, affirming that it serves as a vital framework for localities within the planning scope to manage and utilize land and deploy suitable investment projects. Representatives from communes and wards also clarified advantages and hurdles during implementation; recommending the consulting unit to continue coordinating with localities to review and update details, ensuring the plan aligns with the province’s master plan and practical local conditions.

Leaders of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism contribute feedback on the draft plan.

Delivering concluding remarks, PPC Vice Chairman Vu Viet Van acknowledged and praised the high sense of responsibility demonstrated by departments, sectors, localities, and the consulting unit during the drafting process. He requested the Department of Construction and the consulting unit to fully absorb conference feedback, continue reviewing, supplementing, and perfecting the project to ensure legal soundness, synchronization, and consistency with the Provincial Plan and related planning.

The PPC Vice Chairman noted that adjusting the plan must closely adhere to the potential, strengths, and practical conditions of the Lake Hoa Binh area; harmonizing tourism development requirements with environmental, landscape, forest, and water resource protection while ensuring reservoir safety. In particular, it is necessary to study and propose distinctive, differentiated tourism orientations and products tailored to Lake Hoa Binh’s strengths, creating long-term appeal and exploitation potential.

Overview of the conference.

PPC Vice Chairman Vu Viet Van emphasized that this plan must embody a new development mindset oriented toward “thinking big, thinking deep, working systematically, and creating tangible, feasible products with sustainable value.” This is a crucial foundation for attracting investment, improving management efficiency, and rationally exploiting Lake Hoa Binh’s potential and advantages, step-by-step transforming available resources into concrete socio-economic value.

He instructed relevant departments, sectors, and localities to proactively coordinate with the Department of Construction and the consulting unit, providing full information, thoroughly reviewing contents under their management scope, and promptly supplementing missing or unsuitable details. On that basis, they must urgently finalize a high-quality, synchronized, and feasible planning project to fulfill the development requirements of the Lake Hoa Binh Tourism Area in this new phase.

Le Hoang