Bac Kan Adds New Impetus for Stronger Tourism Development

“Bac Kan has streams of gold, Ba Be Lake and green forests.” This saying alone is not enough but partly telling the prominent beauty of the local tourism picture: Character and identity. However, Bac Kan tourism has not yet developed in commensuration with its potential, while still facing numerous challenges. To continue clearing obstacles and creating momentum for robust tourism development, on August 12, 2021, the Bac Kan Provincial Party Committee issued Resolution 18-NQ/TU on tourism development in 2021-2025 and to 2030. After nearly two years of this policy enforcement, tourism has prospered, driven by new impetuses.

As a mountainous province in the Northeast region of Vietnam, Bac Kan is home to seven ethnic groups: Tay, Nung, Kinh, Dao, Mong, Hoa and San Chay. Each ethnic group has its own distinct culture but they are interchanged to create a common identity of Viet Bac ethnicity, most notably Tay and Nung cultures in Bac Kan. During the resistance war against French colonists, Bac Kan was chosen as a revolutionary stronghold (Viet Bac Safe Zone) along with Tan Trao (Tuyen Quang) and Dinh Hoa (Thai Nguyen) to form the Triangle of Safety Zone for the Party Central Committee, President Ho Chi Minh, the Government and the People's Army of Vietnam.

The province has 120 certified historical, cultural and scenic sites, including two special national relics (Ba Be Lake and Cho Don Safety Zone), seven national monuments, 204 intangible cultural heritages, and one intangible cultural heritage of humanity (Ritual practice of Then in the spiritual life of Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic peoples in Vietnam) and 19 intangible cultural heritages included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In response to Resolution 18-NQ/TU dated August 12, 2021 of the Provincial Party Committee, Bac Kan province has actively carried out consistent solutions and activities to promote and introduce local tourism potential through various programs such as Ba Be Tourism - Cultural Heritage Week 2022, two conferences on Bac Kan tourist destination in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and the action program for tourism development cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and eight Northeast provinces. Bac Kan province has also taken part in tourism promotion at 43 domestic tourism events, fairs and exhibitions such as Viet Bac Heritage Program, VITM Hanoi International Travel Mart, ITE Ho Chi Minh City, tourism events in Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Phu Yen and Dien Bien, Northeast Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival. At the same time, the province organized the Bac Kan Tourism Famtrip Program, which attracted about 320 travel agencies, tourism associations, tourism promotion information centers, and domestic press agencies to survey and build new attractive tours and routes and to write reportages on Ba Be, Cho Don, Na Tu and other places of interest.

In 2021-2022, the province organized seven training courses on professional skills for tourism managers and workers for 220 trainees; supported tourism agencies and companies to attend 38 trade fairs and exhibitions across Vietnam to introduce and promote locally distinctive agricultural products and fine-art handicrafts.

In addition, the province focused on developing ecological and recreational tourism, community tourism and historical - cultural tourism at Ba Be Lake with 20 attractions, Na Khoang ecotourism zone (Ngan Son district), Na Tu historical relic (Bach Thong district), Nang Tien Cave (Na Ri district), and Cho Don Safety Zone - Special national relic site (Cho Don district). In addition to carrying out projects to preserve and promote festivals, traditional trades and intangible cultural heritages in association with tourism development, the province is joining with six Northwest provinces in tourism development, joining with Northeast provinces to cooperate with Ho Chi Minh City in tourism development, fostering tourism development between Bac Kan and Ho Chi Minh City and advancing Bac Kan - Hanoi tourism development cooperation program.

Conference on adventure travel on Ba Be Lake 

Moreover, Bac Kan is stepping up the Project "Information Technology Application for Smart Tourism in Bac Kan province". The province has effectively operated the tourism portal since 2022, attracting more than 700,000 visitors to learn and update information about local tourism.

Leaders of the Bac Kan Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: Together with accelerating construction plans for two special national monuments (Ba Be Lake Scenic Landscape and Cho Don Safety Zone Relic) approved by the Prime Minister, the department is drafting and submitting a resolution to the Provincial People's Council, aiming to support piloting community tourism development in 2023-2026; carrying out the digitization project for tourism and cultural heritage; completing targeted rural tourism models coupled with new rural construction in 2021 - 2025; and supporting the establishment of folk arts clubs and teams to serve tourists at tourist sites and attractions. When resolutions, decisions and actions are concretized and come into play, they will create new impulses for breakthrough tourism development in Bac Kan province.

Ngo Khuyen (Vietnam Business Forum)