(HBO) – Located at an altitude of about 650 metres, Ngoc Son commune of Lac Son district, Hoa Binh province, boasts a cool climate all year round along with pristine, magnificent and poetic mountain landscapes. It is also home to old stilt houses and long-standing customs of Muong ethnic people. Those advantages have created opportunities for local authorities and people to develop tourism.
Ngoc Son commune (Lac Son
district) is blessed with magnificent landscapes and cool climate, which are
favourable for tourism development.
In the recent past, the Party Committee and
administration of Ngoc Son commune surveyed areas and locations with potential
for developing tourism so as to propose higher-level authorities make planning
and prepare for attracting investors to the local travel sector.
In November 2014, the Bai Nha parachuting site,
covering 21 hectares of land in Boi hamlet, was selected as the venue for the
opening ceremony of the 2014 Vietnam Paragliding Open. The tournament attracted
more than 60 athletes from domestic and foreign paragliding clubs.
Mount Bai Nha has an ideal location with all the
space, weather, and landscape conditions necessary for paragliders to fly
freely in an immense and poetic space.
In addition, there are also more than 4,400
hectares of special-use forest in the Ngoc Son - Ngo Luong Nature Reserve, home
to a diversity of fauna and flora.
Meanwhile, some historical and cultural relic
sites are being restored such as the shrines of Boi village, the Vang field,
and Roc Hill, which are the places for local residents to pray for good weather
and bumper crops.
Nearly 90 percent of the households in Ngoc Son
commune are still living in stilt houses. All the six hamlets have also
maintained their cultural teams. Notably, the Muong-language singing club of
Muong Khu with more than 20 members has been working to preserve ancient folk
songs of the Muong ethnic group.
With all the abovementioned advantages, Ngoc Son
promises to be an ideal destination for Vietnamese and international visitors
who love to explore culture and try new experiences.
Apart from the tourist sites planned by the Lac
Son district People’s Committee, transport infrastructure in the commune has
also been upgraded thanks to favourable conditions provided by authorities at
all levels. Particularly, the roads linking Lac Son with Tan Lac district have
been put into use, while the road connecting Ngoc Son with Ngoc Lau and Tu Do
communes and the one traversing Ngoc Son and Tan My communes are nearing
completion.
Vice Chairwoman of the communal People’s
Committee Bui Thi Thuy said viewing tourism development as one of the suitable
directions for Ngoc Son, the local Party Committee and administration will
continue tapping into existing conditions and advantages to attract investment
to the sector.
They will coordinate with the Ngoc Son - Ngo
Luong Nature Reserve to design attractive tours, promote community-based
tourism, facilitate tourism services, and step up the sale of local
agricultural specialities, she added.
In the first 9 months of 2024, Hoa Binh province continues to implement the expanded tourism development cooperation program plan of 8 Northwest provinces with Ho Chi Minh City; deploying digital transformation content in tourism and developing a smart tourism province. Hoa Binh province received about 3.6 million views, an increase of 7.9% over the same period. In which, international visitors are about 380 visitors, domestic visitors are estimated at 3 million 220 visitors.
Spanning thousands of hectares and winding gracefully along mountain slopes, hillsides, and riverbanks, the terraced rice fields of Lac Son District present a stunning and captivating beauty. This region, renowned for its remarkable terraced landscapes, is also the centre of Hoa Binh Culture known for numerous archaeological sites.
The life of Mong people in Hang Kia and Pa Co communes of Mai Chau district has improved much thanks to tourism development.
The man-made Hoa Binh Lake, with a water surface area of approximately 9,000 hectares and a capacity of 9.45 billion cubic meters, stretches over 200 kilometers from Hoa Binh to Son La provinces. With the goal of developing into a national tourism area, the Hoa Binh Lake tourism area is expected to not only become the largest tourism centre in the province but also one of the 12 key tourist destinations in the northern midland and mountainous region of Vietnam.
Da Bia hamlet, now Duc Phong, in Tien Phong commune, Da Bac district, was once almost isolated from the outside as the only way to the hamlet was to get a boat ride across the Hoa Binh reservoir. However, as its tourism potential has been unleashed, the hamlet has established itself as one of the most attractive destinations on the tourism map. It has even received the ASEAN Community-Based Tourism Awards in 2019.
In the first 9 months of 2024, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province welcomed over 684 thousand visitors to visit and relax. In which, over 516 thousand domestic visitors and more than 168 thousand international visitors. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at over 821 billion VND.