Hanoi authorities will soon initiate several traveling routes to connect with neighboring provinces and boost tourism in the Red River Delta region.

Photo shows visitors traveling by boat to Huong Pagoda in Hanoi's My Duc District. Photo: The Hanoi Times

The first route will connect Huong Pagoda in Hanoi’s My Duc District with Tam Chuc Pagoda in Ha Nam Province, director of the Hanoi tourism department Dang Huong Giang said at a conference held on December 28.

Speaking at the conference on tourism development in the Red River Delta, Giang said that although the region has its comparative advantages over others in the country, tourism activities have remained stagnant.

Products and services are not well defined and are of low quality, which leads to visitor dissatisfaction, she said.

"Each province in the delta region must improve its own tourism development plan in a sustainable and long-term way to create new and unique products and services," Giang urged.

Bui Van Manh, Director of the Ninh Binh Province’s Tourism Department, said that the administration of the places of interest has remained poor and unprofessional.

He said this is one of the main reasons why visitors do not stay overnight (in Ninh Binh) even though prices are not too high.

According to Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Research Institute for Tourism Development, positive changes are taking place in tourism in the Red River Delta region as provinces and cities have cooperated to develop several branded products, such as Ha Long Bay, Trang An and Tam Chuc Pagoda.

However, overall performance remains well below expectations, as tourism products and activities are of low quality and management issues persist, he said.

In the future, regional provinces should improve the regulatory system to enhance their cooperation, reform the growth model, make better use of resources and renew the business conditions of tourism enterprises, he added.

Local authorities should also build transportation infrastructure to connect the various provinces, increase investment in healthcare, culture, information, and technology, and promote local tourist sites.

Tran Huy Duc, professor of tourism and hospitality at the National Economics University, also urged regional provinces to focus on brand development, especially on core values rooted in local cultures, to create their own value chains.

Provincial authorities should identify a number of segments and markets suitable for their products and services.

The Red River delta region spans 11 provinces and cities, including the cities of Hanoi and Hai Phong, and nine provinces of Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, and Quang Ninh.

The region covers a total area of more than 21,200km² and has a population of nearly 23 million people (as of 2020). The Red River delta is one of Vietnam’s six key economic regions that connect Vietnam to the Northeast of Asia.

To further develop tourism in the region, officials of the 11 provinces and cities on December 28 signed a mutual agreement on tourism development.