Summer travel season kicks off

Getting ready for the summer tourist season that is approaching and “longer term” is the goal of “developing tourism into an important economic sector of the province”, many practical activities have been coordinated by authorities at all levels and functional sectors to actively promote, promote, and bring the image of friendly Thai Binh tourism to domestic and foreign tourists.

International tourists experience products at Nam Cao linen weaving cooperative (Kien Xuong).

Applying digital technology in tourism promotion

In March 2024, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a conference to deploy an electronic booth on the province's smart tourism portal. Tours, routes, tourist attractions, travel agencies and accommodations in all localities in the province were promoted and introduced here, contributing to creating a colorful panorama of intra-provincial tourism.

Introducing the electronic booth deployed on the smart tourism portal, Mr. Truong Van Cuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: This is one of the utilities provided to users with the goal of becoming a reputable and reliable electronic trading platform, a bridge between consumers and tourism service providers in Thai Binh. Specifically, tourists who need to book a tour will search for information, choose and connect with travel agencies right on the smart tourism portal. Tourists who need to stay and book rooms in Thai Binh can also do so directly on the "Accommodation" booth, search for information about hotels, view images and videos of room types at each price level and book rooms easily and conveniently. The smart tourism portal has a user-friendly interface to encourage and support tourism service businesses, specifically travel agencies and hotels in the province to participate in building booths on the Portal. From there, maximize the source of customers, increase revenue. In the opposite direction, domestic and foreign tourists can also easily access information on tour programs, room types and room prices that are constantly updated, public, transparent, towards the most convenient trip.

Mr. Vu Manh Thang, Chairman of the Provincial Tourism Association, commented: Digitizing all information about domestic tourism and uploading it to the Smart Tourism Portal to provide to tourists is a very timely task to promote clearly and most diversely about Thai Binh's tourism products. The current trend is that everyone searches for information on digital platforms, many transactions are booked online, especially with foreign tourists, the use of online services is almost 100%.

As one of the businesses that quickly connected and created a booth on the Smart Tourism Portal, Mr. Tran Minh Hai, Director of Son Hai Tourism Company shared: To encourage tourists to actively use online services, in addition to providing many images of tours on the Portal to help tourists easily grasp information and choose a suitable schedule, we will have appropriate incentive and discount programs. These will be special programs aimed at students with a schedule to experience historical and cultural relics and famous craft villages in the province. Through the trip, students will understand more, love and be proud of the places in their homeland.

Focus on developing tourism space and products

The province currently has the following types of tourism: sea tourism, eco-tourism; cultural and spiritual tourism; community tourism, experiencing agricultural products, traditional craft villages. According to statistics, the province's tourism business activities have made a lot of progress, the number of tourists and social income from tourism continue to increase over the years. In 2023, the number of tourists increased by 15.5% compared to 2022, the total number of visitors is estimated at 815,000, revenue is estimated at 500 billion VND. In addition to the Con Den eco-tourism area (Thai Thuy) which has been approved by the Provincial People's Committee for planning, investment policy and project implementation, the urban area, tourism, resort, and golf course Con Vanh - Con Thu (Tien Hai) has also been locally adjusted in the construction zoning plan at a scale of 1/2,000; Thai Thuy mangrove eco-tourism area has had a sponsoring unit to survey and establish a detailed planning project, which is the premise for forming a unique eco-tourism area, creating a foundation for the development of the tourism industry within the province. In addition, in the general planning for the construction of Thai Binh Economic Zone, there is an orientation to develop urban areas, tourism and concentrated services with an area of 3,110 hectares, attracting many investors to sponsor planning costs, research and invest in tourism projects...

Eco-tours and experiential tourism for students are increasingly focused on.

Mr. Vu Trung Kien, Director of Minh Phu Trading and Service Co., Ltd., the management unit of Con Den eco-tourism area, shared: Ready for the April 30 and May 1 holidays as well as this year's summer beach tourism season, Con Den eco-tourism area has increased investment in spacious facilities, green - clean - beautiful environment, and at the same time has some positive changes to serve tourists such as adding an area to experience clam raking activities right next to the embankment of the eco-tourism area, increasing the number of functional forces on duty regularly and adding signs in the coastal area to ensure safety for tourists...

The involvement of functional sectors and the efforts of increasingly friendly and attractive destinations for tourists are important premises for the development of intra-provincial tourism. With a variety of destinations in many types of tourism, it is hoped that when properly cared for and invested, Thai Binh tourism will open up opportunities to welcome domestic and foreign tourists to visit and relax.