A cultural journey that captivates thousands
At the stroke of New Year’s Eve during the Lunar Year of the Horse, Vuong Hong Thai from Sen 2 village joined crowds of Kim Lien villagers to offer incense to President Ho Chi Minh at his memorial house at the Kim Lien special national relic site in Nghe An Province. The gesture expressed gratitude to the late beloved leader and prayers for peace and prosperity in the year ahead.
From New Year’s Day onwards, Kim Lien became a sacred gathering place for tens of thousands of visitors from Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Vinh city (Nghe An Province), as well as Duc Tho and Huong Son (Ha Tinh Province).
Director of the Kim Lien special national relic site, Nguyen Bao Tuan, reported that during each day of the first lunar month of 2016, the site welcomed an average of 7,000–10,000 visitors from within and beyond the province, underscoring its enduring cultural and spiritual appeal.
Nguyen Thi Van from Vinh Phu ward, Nghe An Province, shared that Kim Lien is always her family’s first stop every Tet. The trip, she explained, is also an opportunity to teach her children about Uncle Ho’s great contributions, nurture their love for the homeland, and encourage them to become responsible citizens.
From the start of spring, Nghe An’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has directed tourism sites to refresh products, accelerate digital transformation, and promote the province through digital tourism maps. The integration of beach, spiritual, and eco-tourism has created a distinctive appeal, making Nghe An a bustling destination every Tet.
Beyond Kim Lien, the spring tourism journey in the North Central region thrives at many sites, notably the Ho Dynasty Citadel and Ba Trieu Temple (Thanh Hoa Province); Huong Tich Pagoda, Dong Loc T-Junction, and the Hai Thuong Lan Ong Memorial Area (Ha Tinh Province). Amusement parks, eco-tourism, and spiritual sites also teem with visitors, including VinWonders Cua Hoi, Dien Lam eco-area, Eo Gio Eco-Tourism Area, Hoang Muoi Temple, and Con Temple.
In western Nghe An, destinations such as Muong Long Eco Garden, Nhat Minh Farmstay, and Lam Khang Homestay have become ideal choices for nature lovers eager to chase clouds, admire peach and apricot blossoms, and explore Mong and Thai ethnic culture in the early days of the new year.
Provinces unite to harness tourism potential
The North Central region boasts remarkable advantages in developing cultural, historical, and spiritual tourism, thanks to its wealth of relics, scenic sites, diverse cultural spaces, traditional festivals, craft villages, and distinctive folk beliefs
The North Central region boasts remarkable advantages in developing cultural, historical, and spiritual tourism, thanks to its wealth of relics, scenic sites, diverse cultural spaces, traditional festivals, craft villages, and distinctive folk beliefs.
In recent years, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh have invested state resources and national programmes, while mobilising social funding to preserve and promote key relics and representative heritage, linking preservation with sustainable tourism development.
The three provinces have recognised that enhancing cultural-historical-spiritual tourism must be closely tied to heritage preservation. Accordingly, they have directed localities to improve services, accelerate digital transformation in promotion, and strengthen linkages between relics, festivals, and services to form culturally rich tourism journeys. As a result, visitor numbers to the North Central provinces have steadily risen.
In Thanh Hoa Province alone, the 2021–2025 period welcomed nearly 58.5 million visitors, with total tourism revenue exceeding 129,000 billion VND. Spring tourism stands out with cultural-historical-spiritual products that hold particular appeal during Tet and early-year festivals.
According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, popular sites receive thousands of visitors daily during the spring period for incense offerings and sightseeing, accounting for about 13% of the annual total.
In recent years, the province and neighbouring localities have organised over 100 cultural, sports, and tourism events annually, with around 60% held during Tet and spring, meeting spiritual needs while boosting tourism growth.
Thanh Hoa has also coordinated with Nghe An and Ha Tinh to sign and implement numerous cooperation programmes and agreements on tourism development, information exchange, experience sharing, state management capacity building, product planning, and promotion.
Together, the three provinces have developed several effective joint tourism products and programmes, such as “Three Provinces – One Destination, Many Experiences”, “Journey Through Ancient Vietnamese Capitals”, “Central Heritage Road”, and “Following Uncle Ho’s Footsteps”.
Deputy Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee, Dau Thanh Tung, emphasised that in the coming period, the three provinces will focus on implementing a new phase of linkage programmes, coordinating to develop regional heritage-historical tourism products, standardising service quality and training personnel, and advancing digital communications to build a professional, synchronised, and sustainable image for the North Central destination.
