September 17, 2023, in Hoang Su Phi district, Ha Giang province. The expanded tourism development cooperation group of 8 Northwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City organized a workshop "Promoting the value of cultural heritage of terraced fields in the Northwest provinces in tourism development” associated with the announcement of expanded Northwest tourism products in 2023.

Leaders from Ha Giang and Lai Chau provinces together with the leaders

The Vietnam National Tourism Administration chaired the workshop

The conference was chaired by Mr. Hoang Gia Long, member of the Ha Giang Provincial Party Standing Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Le Phuc, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration co-chaired the implementation. Attending the conference were leaders of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Department of Tourism of the 8 expanded Northwest provinces along with specialized departments; Leaders of Hoang Su Phi District People's Committee along with travel businesses, experts, researchers, etc. from provinces and cities in the expanded cooperation group.

Mr. Hoang Gia Long, Permanent Vice Chairman of Ha Giang Provincial People's Committee  spoke at the opening of the conference and affirmed the 8 expanded Northwest provinces including: Ha Giang, Phu Tho, Dien Bien, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Son La and Yen Bai are places with magnificent nature, unique culture and heroic history. The provinces have effectively implemented the tourism development cooperation program, contributing to promoting tourism development, preserving indigenous culture, creating jobs and transforming economic structure in localities. In particular, the provinces in the region have tens of thousands of hectares of terraced fields, of which: Mu Cang Chai district has nearly 2,200 hectares, Hoang Su Phi district has nearly 765 hectares and Sa Pa has nearly 1,000 hectares have been recognized as high-level national scenic spots. These are advantages for linking and developing terraced field tourism. He hoped that at the conference, he could hear many opinions and proposals for solutions to promote heritage values and develop tourism from scenic terraced fields from delegates to promote tourism development of the Northwest region.

Leaders of eight provinces at the workshop

The delegates proposed a number of solutions such as the need to: Promote communication of terraced rice landscapes to domestic and foreign tourists; investment in road construction and telecommunications services; technical facilities for tourism; Build tours and connecting routes between locations with beautiful terraced fields; preserve and promote indigenous cultural identity; Build unique ethnic arts programs with unique identities to attract tourists; Promote the promotion and introduction of tourism products to promote tourism development.

Up to now, the Cooperation Group has gradually put into effective exploitation tours connecting the expanded Northwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City such as: Northwest Tour connecting Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi - Hoa Binh - Son La - Dien Bien - Lai Chau - Sa Pa (Lao Cai) - Ha Giang. The “Highland Flavors Tour” connects Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi - Bac Ha (Lao Cai) - Xin Man, Hoang Su Phi, Dong Van (Ha Giang). The conference announced two tourism product routes linking the expanded Northwest region in 2023, including: About the terraced fields heritage region, the story of "Brocade weavers in the Northwest sky" and the tour going up the Da River with memories of the story "The Soul Keeper of the Northwest".

In the coming time, Hoa Binh province will invite travel agencies to survey and build new tourism products with unique characteristics to connect to the expanded tourism product line of the Northwest region to meet today's needs of visitors.