A video titled “Secretary of the Muong Highlands” created by Nguyen Duy Tu, Party Secretary of Van Son Commune in Phu Tho Province, registered nearly one million views within one day of posting on Facebook in 2026. The video, which highlights Van Son’s natural scenery and Muong ethnic culture through an informal style, prompted hundreds of visitors to travel to Van Son on weekends, illustrating how viral digital content has raised the area’s tourism profile.
Van Son Commune, formed from five merged former communes, is preparing documentation to gain recognition as a provincial tourism area by 2030. Its tourism development
focuses on nature experiences, community tourism, and Muong culture. Adjacent Long Coc Commune launched a campaign named “Every Official, Every Resident Is a Tourism Ambassador” and introduced the Amazing Long Coc digital channel to increase promotion of tea hills, festivals, local products, and community experiences among officials and residents.
Phu Tho Tourism Visitation and Financial Targets in 2026
Phu Tho Province hosted over 10.5 million visitors in the first half of 2026, including approximately 74,000 international travelers and more than 3.2 million overnight stays. Tourism revenue was estimated at VND10.755 trillion (US$410 million) during this period. The provincial government aims to attract 15 million visitors and generate VND16.3 trillion
(US$621 million) in tourism revenue by the end of 2026.
Historical Sites and Development Challenges
Phu Tho holds nearly 1,000 officially recognized historical and cultural sites, which include two Special National Relic Sites, six National Treasures, and five elements recognized by UNESCO as cultural heritage. Key tourist destinations span the Hung Kings Temple Historic Site, Tam Dao National Tourist Area, Tay Thien, Dai Lai, Thanh Thuy, Mai Chau, Hoa Binh Lake, Xuan Son National Park, Long Coc Commune, and Van Son Commune. Despite these assets, authorities acknowledge challenges such as uneven transport connectivity, limited distinctive tourism products, the need to improve service quality and workforce
capacity, as well as concerns in environmental management, food safety, and traffic conditions.
Tam Dao’s Service Quality Campaign and Official Engagement
In July 2026, Phu Tho’s Tam Dao National Tourist Area launched a month-long campaign focused on upgrading sanitation, improving accommodation facilities, and enhancing visitor services. The event was attended by Provincial Party Secretary Pham Dai Duong. This campaign involved collaboration among government agencies, tourism businesses, and local residents, aiming to address the sector’s quality concerns ahead of peak tourist seasons.
Long-Term Tourism Development and Digital Transformation Strategy
The 2026-2030 provincial tourism development plan targets at least 20 million visitors, 7.8 million overnight stays, VND26.5 trillion (US$1.01 billion) in revenue, expansion of accommodation to over
22,000 rooms, and creation of 30,000 tourism-related jobs. Digital transformation forms a central pillar of this strategy, with plans to establish a tourism database integrated with Vietnam’s national system, alongside deployment of GIS mapping, digital maps, QR codes, automated multilingual guides, virtual reality experiences, electronic payment systems, public Wi-Fi access, and broadband infrastructure across key sites.
Phu Tho participates in the Expanded Northwest tourism cooperation program to interlink regional tourism websites, apply artificial intelligence in marketing, develop the Colors of the Northwest tourism fan page, and produce promotional video content supporting interprovincial routes. Training programs have been provided to government
officials and tourism enterprises on subjects including ChatGPT usage, trailer production, and digital communication.
Official Focus on Cultural Integration and Creative Economy
Chairman Tran Duy Dong of the Phu Tho People’s Committee emphasized that the province’s future tourism development should leverage cultural heritage and integrate tourism activities with the creative economy to generate sustainable value. Strengthening tourism connections between Phu Tho, Hanoi, and the wider Expanded Northwest region is planned to encourage longer stays. The province intends to expand diverse tourism segments including cultural and spiritual tourism, hot mineral spring resorts, ecotourism, community-based tourism, golf and MICE tourism, wellness tourism, agricultural tourism, and the night-time economy.
