The Northwest is a large region of Vietnam including the provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Lao Cai and Yen Bai. This is a place with very diverse and rich natural and humanistic tourism resources with magnificent natural landscapes, unique culture, and heroic history to develop tourism. In addition, some Northwest provinces are also adjacent to Ha Giang and Phu Tho provinces, creating an expanded Northwest region with unique and attractive tourism products of each locality that attracts many domestic and international tourists.

Golden season on a terraced field in the majestic Northwest Region

Hoa Binh is a mountainous province located at the gateway to the Northwest region of the country adjacent to the capital Hanoi, within the planning of the capital region, an important tourist center of the country. There is National Highway 6 and a waterway on the Da River flowing through, which is convenient for tourism development. Hoa Binh is an ancient land, imbued with the cultural identities of the Muong, Kinh, Thai, Tay, Dao, and Mong ethnic groups with diverse and rich human values. The place is named for the famous "Hoa Binh Culture", home of the epic "Giving Earth - Giving Water"; with more than 100 relics ranked at national and provincial levels. This is also a land with a long historical and cultural tradition of ethnic groups along with famous folk festivals imbued with national identity associated with agriculture such as: Muong Gong Festival, Fairy Pagoda Festival, Muong Bi Opening Ceremony, Bo Temple Festival, Thai Xen Muong Festival, etc.

Hoa Binh's natural resources are very rich, the terrain is majestic and mountainous with many beautiful limestone caves such as: Nui Dau Rong (Dragon Head Mountain) cave complex, Cao Phong district; Cave complex of Tien Pagoda relic area, Lac Thuy district; Ngoi Hoa cave and Nam Son cave, Tan Lac district; Trung Son cave, Luong Son district. Nature reserves where precious species of animals and plants are still preserved and are being exploited for adventure tourism routes such as paragliding, mountain climbing, and adventure tourism. Recreational schedule of walking and bathing in streams. In particular, Hoa Binh Lake - which has been approved by the Prime Minister as a national tourist area - has a water surface area of about 8,000 hectares, a capacity of nearly 9.5 billion m3, with hundreds of floating islands and peninsulas, creating charming landscapes are favorable conditions for developing all types of tourism.

In the current trend of world economic integration, with a geographical location close to Hanoi and provinces in the Northwest region thanks to a convenient transportation system along with advantages in natural and human resources, Hoa Binh has conditions and opportunities to develop tourism. Along with the development of tourism nationwide, Hoa Binh province tourism has created many unique and attractive tourism products. Currently, Hoa Binh province has built many specific types of tourism as follows:

For the type of spiritual cultural tourism: Hoa Binh province has spiritual tourist destinations such as Thac Bo temple and Thac Bo cave on Hoa Binh lake tourist area; Nui Dau Rong cave relic complex and Thuong Bong Lai temple, Cao Phong town, Cao Phong district; Cave complex in Tien Pagoda area, Phu Lao commune, Lac Thuy district), etc.

For the type of community tourism: Currently in the province there are many community tourism destinations with more than 300 homestays such as Lac village, Van village, Poom Coong village, Buoc village, Hich village in Mai Chau district. ; Ngoi village, Ai village, Chien village in Tan Lac district; Ke village, Sung village, Da Bia village in Da Bac district. These are villages of the Muong, Thai, Dao and Mong ethnic groups that still preserve everything from landscape architecture to lifestyle customs and traditions, attracting many international tourists to visit, rest and experience life with local people.

For the type of eco-resort tourism: Hoa Binh has more than 70 unique and attractive eco-resort destinations: Mai Chau Hide away resort, Mai Chau Ecolodge, Bakhan Village resort, Avana retreat in Mai Chau district; Du Lake resort and Sun Set Ecotourism Resort in Luong Son district; An Lac Farm, V'resort and Serena Resort in Kim Boi district, etc. These are relatively high-end eco-resorts, with natural landscapes and fresh climate to meet the needs of many tourists. 

Mai Chau Hide away is an attractive ecological resort

on Hoa Binh Lake Tourist Area

Regarding the type of sports tourism: Hoa Binh province has 2 golf courses that meet international standards, including the 54-hole Phuong Hoang Golf course in Luong Son district and the 18-hole Hilltop Valley Golf Club in Hoa Binh city, which attracts many people. In particular, it has organized many domestic and international golf tournaments. The province has a number of paragliding sites in Phuc Tien commune, Hoa Binh city and a flight site in Bai Nha, Lac Son district. On Hoa Binh Lake Tourist Area, there is a water park in Ngoi hamlet, Suoi Hoa commune with over 130 games including high quality canoes, water motorbikes, and speedboats that attract many tourists.

In the current period of globalization, the trend of association is an inevitable law of development. Linkage is the motto for tourism development in the coming period to stay ahead of the world trend of shifting tourist sources from Europe to Asia. Regional integration allows tourism products to take advantage of many strengths, improve competitiveness and have high sustainability. However, regional linkages in tourism require linking components to have advantages in terms of territorial space and similarities in resources to be able to promote their strengths and make the most of tourism resources. as facilities to meet tourism products. To promote the advantages and role of Hoa Binh Province located at the Northwest gateway in forming a route linking tourism products of the expanded Northwest provinces and the Northwest arc in linking tourism development, it has been and is being continued to carry out some specific tasks as follows:

First: Identify domestic and international tourist markets wishing to visit Hoa Binh province and the Northwest provinces for sightseeing, tourism, and relaxation; For the domestic market, focus on the tourist market from the capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some provinces and cities in the Northern region with a large number of tourists wanting to go to the Northwest provinces. For the international tourist market, focus on exploiting traditional markets which are EU countries; Expanding to other markets such as the US, Australia, Japan, Korea and the Asean market.

Second: Hoa Binh focuses on building diverse and competitive products to attract all types of customers. Based on the advantages of natural and human resources, and its location as a place to transfer tourists from Hanoi and the Northern Delta to the vast Northwest road, Hoa Binh province has been building suitable tourism products. with all types of customers, from affordable to high-end. Tourist areas such as Hoa Binh Lake Tourist Area and Mai Chau Tourist Area have invested in many types of tourism such as eco-tourism, resort tourism, and sports tourism. Hoa Binh has unique destinations to attract tourists along routes such as: Phuong Hoang Golf courses (Luong Son district) and Hilltop Valley Golf Club (Hoa Binh city); Some ecological destinations on Hoa Binh Lake tourist area in Cao Phong, Tan Lac, Da Bac districts have resorts and entertainment and discovery spots such as: Heritage Park of Vietnamese Scientists, Park water on Hoa Binh lake, Bo Temple relics, Thac Bo cave, Mai Da Resort, Mai Chau Hideaway, Ba Khan Village Resort; Kim Boi hot mineral water resort currently has V'Resort, Serena Resort, etc.

Third: Hoa Binh has developed specific tourism programs to connect with the Northwest provinces. Develop separate travel programs for international and domestic visitors; including building both road and waterway tourist routes on Da River. Develop thematic tourism programs: cultural tourism, eco-tourism, community tourism, resort tourism, etc. to meet the diverse needs of tourists. It coordinated with the expanded Northwest provinces to select destinations as well as tourism products of the provinces and organized a survey to invite travel companies to attend. 

Fourth: As a province in the northwest corner of Hanoi capital, Hoa Binh province is investing in researching regional planning and planning tourist destinations and routes of the province, thereby finding and creating good quality products with unique local identity to build linking strengths. Tourist areas and destinations need to be planned uniformly, without rampant construction, and to avoid duplication of tourism products. In each tourist area, it is necessary to promote the unique tourism resources and unique nuances of each locality to build unique tourism products. Hoa Binh is striving by 2030 to maximize its advantages to develop tourism into a key economic sector, build Hoa Binh into an attractive destination with typical tourism products, and a major tourist center of the Northern Midlands and Mountains region.