Despite starting to develop tourism later than some other localities, with the potential described as having both "Sa Pa and Ha Long Bay” in the midst of mountains as well as a typical cultural identity and a new direction, Da Bac district is gradually winning the hearts of travellers.
A high-end and modern resort attractive to tourists in
Vay Nua commune, Da Bac district.
At present, though Da Bac has yet to be truly
popular on the tourism map of Vietnam, such local names as Sung and Da Bia
hamlets, Lord Thac Bo Temple, or some resorts like Mo Village, Vayang Retreat,
Maida Lodge, and Xoan Retreat have proved attractive to travel lovers.
Ban Kim Quy, Vice Chairman of the Da Bac
People’s Committee, said that instead of rushing to tourism development that
may ruin natural landscapes, the district opted to capitalise on its advantages
in agriculture, rural areas, culture, and ecological environment. It has
shifted from pure agricultural production to agricultural economy connected
with developing services and tourism in the vicinity of Hoa Binh Lake so as to
gradually improve the quality of residents’ material and spiritual lives.
He noted Da Bac is focusing on equipping locals
with tourism skills and, especially, recovering, preserving, and bringing into
play ethnic groups’ traditional cultures to sustainably develop tourism and
generate high economic benefits.
There are now 30 accommodation establishments
across the district, including 18 homestay facilities, 11 hotels, and one
two-star hotel. Da Bac welcomed 170,100 tourist arrivals and earned over 80 billion
VND (3.1 million USD) in tourism revenue last year. Both figures increased
during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023.
Da Bac targets more than 550,000 visitors and
165 billion VND in tourism revenue in 2025. It looks to raise the respective
figures to over 660,000 and 198 billion VND by 2030, Quy added.
Nguyen Van Toan, Standing Vice Chairman of the
Hoa Binh provincial People’s Committee, said Hoa Binh Lake spans five
district-level localities, of which Da Bac is home to the largest water surface
area. The lake has met three of the five criteria for a national tourism area –
a status the province hopes to secure by 2030.
Sixteen service, culture, and tourism investment
projects in the lake’s vicinity have been licensed or granted investment
certificates so far. They cover about 1,444ha of land and have total investment
of over 3.3 trillion VND. The projects aim to meet tourism, relaxation, and
entertainment demand at the same time with planting and protecting forest and
preserving culture.
The provincial administration will strongly
direct relevant agencies and sectors to provide maximum procedural assistance
for the projects to be carried out on schedule. Besides, authorities will also
exert efforts in completing transport, tourism, and communication
infrastructure to create momentum for the accommodation system and tourism
products to develop quickly and contribute to local growth, Toan remarked.
In recent years, based on the community tourism models of the Dao people in Cao Son commune and the Muong people in Hien Luong and Tien Phong communes, the authority of Da Bac district has built a model of this kind in the Tay ethnic community in Thu Lu hamlet, Giap Dat commune.
The People's Committee of Hoa Binh province on August 7 held a meeting to review the implementation of the project "Building upland communes in Tan Lac district into provincial-level tourist areas by 2030, with a vision to 2050" in the first months of 2024, and deploy tasks for the coming time. Nguyen Van Toan, Standing Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, chaired the event.
The provincial People's Committee has just issued Decision No. 1419/QD-UBND on July 30th, 2024, regarding the recognition of Mo Hamlet Community Tourism Site.
Blessed by nature with beautiful landscapes with hundreds of caves, waterfalls, grass hills and a cultural space imbued with ethnic identity, some destinations in Cao Phong district are likened to "fairyland" or "tourist paradise". Clearly identifying its potential and advantages, over the recent years, the district has continuously invested in embellishing, preserving and increasing the value of its landscapes and relic sites to develop tourism.
After three years of implementing Resolution No. 05-NQ/HU, dated June 7, 2021, issued by the Lac Thuy Party Committee’s standing board on local tourism development for 2021-2025, the district has focused on forming distinctive cultural products linked to tourism to attract visitors. Its efforts have led to increasing tourist arrivals and tourism revenue, contributing to economic restructuring, job creation, state budget revenue collection, and higher living standards.
According to the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, tourism business activities in the province have shown strong signs of recovery, and the province has achieved good growth in the first six months of this year. The total number of tourists visiting Hoa Binh is estimated at 2.6 million, increasing nearly 10% compared to that of the same period, achieving 61.9% of the annual plan.
