Impressions of Tourism in the Ancestral Land

Within the new development space, tourism in the Ancestral Land is experiencing strong breakthroughs with many positive signals, affirming its position as a safe, friendly, and attractive destination on Vietnam’s tourism map. Thanks to proactiveness in direction, product innovation, and accelerated digital transformation, Phu Tho tourism has not only fulfilled set targets but also left a profound imprint on tourists.

Large crowds of tourists visiting and paying homage at the Tay Thien Festival.

Fostering Potential, Exploiting Advantages

By the end of Q3/2026, the tourism sector achieved outstanding results. Total tourist arrivals to the province were estimated at 13.4 million (including 4.161 million overnight visitors), up 10.3% compared to the same period in 2025 and achieving 89.3% of the annual plan. Total revenue from tourists was estimated at nearly 13,700 billion VND, an 11.03% increase year-on-year and reaching 84% of the annual plan. This impressive growth stemmed from a series of successfully organized major cultural and tourism events linked to responding to the 2026 National Tourism Year. Prominently, the Hung Kings Commemoration - Hung Temple Festival and Ancestral Land Culture-Tourism Week in the Year of the Horse 2026 attracted millions of domestic compatriots and overseas Vietnamese back to their origins. In addition, the Tay Thien Festival and the Mui Ethnic Khai Ha Festival drew approximately 95,000 participants with revenue exceeding 27 billion VND; the Hung Temple “Return to Origins” Marathon with over 4,000 athletes, and the Hung Vương Cup Strong Teams Volleyball Tournament created a vibrant festival atmosphere, broadly spreading traditional cultural heritage values...

Particularly, new and unique tourism products left deep emotions with visitors. Ms. Nguyen Khanh Huyen — a tourist from Hanoi — shared her impression when experiencing the “Hung Temple - Sacred Origins” Night Tour. Experiencing the sacred heritage space at night brought her and her family a novel perspective, harmoniously blending historical tradition with the locality’s creative and professional approach to tourism. This space, along with a series of thematic exhibitions, art performances, ancient village Xoan singing, and bronze drum beating, added further value to Ancestral Land culture.

Alongside this, state management over travel operations, tour guides, and accommodation establishments was strengthened. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism directed the review and guidance of service businesses to strictly comply with regulations and elevate dining, lodging, and sightseeing service quality. Landscape embellishment, environmental sanitation, fire explosion prevention, and absolute safety for tourists were placed as top priorities, contributing to building an image of Phu Tho tourism that is safe, friendly, and rich in identity. Promotion and marketing activities also recorded major advances as the province actively participated in national and regional fairs and events, such as the Southern Folk Cake Festival in An Giang, tourism space exhibitions, and the Tourism Development Cooperation Conference between 6 provinces (Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, Phu Tho, Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Lang Son)—while accelerating digital transformation, standardizing tourism data, and developing smart information systems...

Solutions for Tourism Acceleration

Evaluating these results and upcoming directions, Comrade Bui Xuan Truong — Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism — stated that positive outcomes over the first 9 months serve as clear evidence of close leadership and direction from the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, and People’s Committee, alongside inter-agency coordination and joint efforts from the business community and local residents. Skilfully exploiting heritage, historical, belief, eco-tourism, and unique community values to develop tourism economics has yielded tangible results. Moving forward, the tourism sector will continue deploying synchronized key tasks to meet and exceed full-year targets.

Specifically, the sector will focus on organizing the stimulus program “Phu Tho Tourism - Multi-Colored Experiences,” combining cultural-tourism display spaces and OCOP products at Mai Chau Tourist Area. Concurrently, the locality will accelerate the construction of community-based tourism village models that harmonize traditional values with technology applications in Long Coc commune, hold local tourism skill training classes, complete directional signage and route map systems, and elevate operational efficiency at spots like Xuan Son National Park...

Furthermore, state management over travel agencies, accommodation inspections, and national target programs for rural development and cultural growth will continue to be pushed forward. In particular, coordinating with the Phu Tho Tourism Association to launch the “Building a Green - Clean - Beautiful Tourism Environment” program and organizing a seminar celebrating World Tourism Day themed “Digital Programs and Artificial Intelligence to Reshape the Tourism Sector” creates an important premise for innovating management mindsets and service exploitation. Expanding tourism development cooperation across the wider Northwest region, Phu Tho tourism remains highly focused on creating sustainable values—propelling the province’s “smokeless industry” far forward on its new development journey.

Huong Lan