A video titled “Secretary of the Muong Highlands,” created by Nguyen Duy Tu, Party Secretary of Van Son Commune, amassed nearly one million views on Facebook within one day. The 38-year-old official recorded the video showcasing Muong culture and natural scenery, which spurred hundreds of weekend visitors to Van Son Commune, located over 50 kilometers from his workplace.
Nguyen Duy Tu intends to produce about 10 similar videos per month focusing on Muong culture, local cuisine, and attractions. This viral content reflects Phu Tho Province’s broader digital tourism strategy that includes community engagement and social media promotion to transform online
attention into increased tourist arrivals.
Phu Tho’s Digital Tourism Strategy and Local Campaigns
Alongside Van Son’s rising profile, Long Coc Commune launched the “Every Official, Every Resident Is a Tourism Ambassador” campaign and introduced the Amazing Long Coc digital channel on July 30, 2026. The campaign promotes tea hills, festivals, local specialties, OCOP-certified products, and community tourism experiences, encouraging officials and residents to produce digital content.
Phu Tho’s digital tourism strategy integrates viral content, developing tourism databases connected with Vietnam’s national system, GIS mapping, QR codes, multilingual guides, virtual reality, electronic payments, and public Wi-Fi infrastructure at key sites.
Visitor Statistics and Revenue Performance in the First Half of 2026
Phu Tho Province received over 10.5 million visitors in
the first six months of 2026, including approximately 74,000 international tourists. The period recorded more than 3.2 million overnight stays. Tourism revenue for this timeframe was estimated at VND10.755 trillion (approximately US$410 million).
Authorities aim to attract 15 million visitors and generate VND16.3 trillion (US$621 million) in tourism revenue by the end of 2026, reflecting ambitions to expand tourism scale and economic contribution.
Cultural and Natural Tourism Assets of Phu Tho
Phu Tho hosts nearly 1,000 officially recognized historical and cultural sites, including two Special National Relic Sites, six National Treasures, and five UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage elements. Key tourism destinations include 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, and Van Son.
Challenges and Service Quality Improvements
The province’s tourism development strategy for 2026-2030 identifies challenges such as uneven transport connectivity, limited distinctive tourism products, service quality and workforce capacity shortcomings, environmental management issues, food safety concerns, and traffic conditions. These challenges affect the conversion of visitor numbers into stronger economic benefits.
Tam Dao National Tourist Area launched a month-long campaign in July 2026 focused on improving service quality, sanitation, and accommodation facilities. Provincial Party Secretary Pham Dai Duong attended the campaign launch, which
involves government agencies, tourism businesses, and local residents to enhance visitor services.
Official Perspectives on Tourism Development
Chairman Tran Duy Dong of the Phu Tho People’s Committee stated that future tourism development will leverage the province’s cultural roots by integrating heritage preservation with creative economy principles to generate sustainable tourism value.
The tourism resolution for 2026-2030 targets 20 million visitors, 7.8 million overnight stays, VND26.5 trillion (US$1.01 billion) in tourism revenue, over 22,000 accommodation rooms, and 30,000 jobs by 2030.
Digital Transformation and Regional Cooperation
Digital transformation is a central pillar of Phu Tho’s tourism strategy, encompassing the creation of a tourism database connected to the national system, adoption of
GIS mapping, QR codes, virtual reality, electronic payments, and enhanced broadband at tourist destinations.
The province participates in the Expanded Northwest tourism cooperation program, which includes linking regional tourism websites, managing the Colors of the Northwest fan page, applying artificial intelligence in marketing, and producing promotional videos for interprovincial routes. Training programs for government officials and tourism businesses cover ChatGPT use, trailer production, and digital communications.
Future Tourism Development and Connectivity Enhancements
Phu Tho plans to develop niche tourism products such as 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.
Strengthening
tourism links between Phu Tho, Hanoi, and the expanded Northwest region aims to encourage visitors to extend their stays, contributing to deeper economic impact and employment growth.
Phu Tho’s strategy emphasizes that turning viral online interest into sustainable tourism income and job creation depends on preserved natural landscapes, quality services, accessible information, distinctive products, and coordinated efforts across the tourism sector.
