Hanoi has welcomed fall, the most beautiful season of the year, with pleasantly cool weather and tranquil, romantic views. This beauty has enormous potential to develop unique tourism products that will entice travelers to add the city to their checklist.

Autumn in Hanoi is a fascinating time for many people because of the changes in weather, light and mood. Photo: Yeu Hanoi

A series of new autumn tourism products

Autumn in Hanoi has been depicted in poetry, music and painting as the epitome of beauty and romance. Aware of autumn as the "golden" season and an advantage of the capital's tourism, Hanoi's travel agencies have designed numerous tour packages to take advantage of it.

In particular, Flamingo Redtours JSC has just launched the tours "Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh Era", "A Glimpse of Europe in the Heart of Hanoi", "Hanoi - 36 Streets" and "One Day Exploring West Lake", all of which have to do with history, culture, and architecture.

Many tourism companies have stepped up the promotion of travel in Hanoi in fall. Their websites suggest Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake, Long Bien Bridge, yellow leaf streets like Phan Dinh Phung, Thanh Nien, Hoang Hoa Tham or Hoang Dieu, and Red River Rock Flower Garden as photogenic destinations.

In addition, some enterprises also coordinate with neighboring provinces to organize inter-provincial tours, such as Hanoi-Tan Trao Historical Site (Tuyen Quang Province) or Hanoi-Tay Thien-Tam Dao (both in Vinh Phuc Province), to promote local tourism and bring international visitors to Vietnam.

The dreamy beauty of a Hanoi street in autumn. Photo: The Hanoi Times

"Hanoi's tourism should encourage travel agencies to develop traditional experiential activities such as the Lantern Parade Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival so that tourists can learn about Hanoi's thousand-year-old culture," said Phung Quang Thang, Chairman of the Hanoi Travel Association.

According to Tran Thi Thuy Lan, Deputy Director of the Hoan Kiem Lake and Hanoi Old Quarter Management Board, her agency organizes the Old Quarter Mid-Autumn Festival every year, exploring the Old Quarter with electric tourist cars, experiencing the living space of old Hanoians at the Heritage House at 87 Ma May Street, and other activities.

Meanwhile, the Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center has designed a new Instagrammable area for visitors at the East Gate and Hexagonal Tower in addition to the "Deciphering the Thang Long Imperial Citadel" night tour.

Similarly, Chu Ngoc Quan, Deputy Director of Ba Vi National Park, shared that they are planning to launch various experiential travel products, including the Tree Marigold Flower Festival in October or experiential travel combining sports such as cycling and hiking, to better tap the attraction's tourism potential.

Developing typical products

The must-try dishes of Hanoi in fall: Egg coffee and young glutinous rice. Photo: Yeu Hanoi

Autumn is a specialty of the capital, but to capitalize on it, it is crucial for the tourism sector to develop typical tours. Tourism experts recommended that Hanoi needs to introduce more products such as visits to traditional handicraft villages, culinary tours, cultural and historical tours, Hanoi city tours by cyclo, as well as modern shows.

It is also important for Hanoi to introduce streets that specialize in selling autumn products such as moon cakes, mid-autumn toys, and green rice flakes. This will bring multi-dimensional experiences to visitors and enhance the charm of Hanoi's autumn.

"Hanoi has Hoan Kiem Lake and Tran Nhan Tong pedestrian areas, which can become spaces for autumn music and poetry. The West Lake area with lotus ponds and Tay Tuu flower farms can be turned into autumn experiential spaces," Phung Quang Thang suggested.

From the perspective of tourism enterprises, Nguyen Tien Dat, CEO of AZA Travel, suggested that Hanoi should launch a "Hanoi Autumn Travel Campaign", combining the autumn tourism products of enterprises into an exclusive tour for Hanoi. At the same time, he added, it is necessary to step up the promotion of fall tourism image to domestic and foreign tourists.

"Hanoi should organize annual fall events at a certain time of the year to attract tourists, following the Danang International Fireworks Festival or the Ha Giang Buckwheat Flower Festival," Dat said.

Golden light and clear skies of Hanoi in autumn. Photo: Yeu Hanoi

Dang Huong Giang, Director of Hanoi Tourism Department, said that by the end of the year, they will hold a series of events related to Hanoi Autumn, namely Hanoi Tourism Gift Festival 2023, Hanoi Culinary Space 2023, Hanoi Fall Festival with the theme "Hanoi Autumn - Come to Fall in Love" at the Hoan Kiem Lake walking area and some districts.

In particular, on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the liberation of the capital, the Hanoi Department of Tourism will organize the second season of Hanoi Travel Ao Dai Festival 2023, making this event an annual autumn activity of the city's tourism sector.

"This is an event with many activities to promote tourism by attracting locals and tourists to the capital in the fall. At the same time, it facilitates the development of typical Hanoi fall tours by tourism businesses," Giang stressed.