Many customers but not high revenue
Despite having advantages in resources and strategic location, Nghe An tourism still faces the reality of "large number of visitors but not high revenue". In 2025, total revenue from tourists in the province is estimated at 30,600 billion VND, but direct tourism revenue only reached 11,921 billion VND, an increase of 7% compared to the previous year.
Compared to major tourist centers, this gap is still quite clear. In the same year, Da Nang recorded total tourism revenue estimated at 60,000 billion VND, double that of Nghe An. This shows that the tourism exploitation efficiency of Nghe An is still limited, not commensurate with its potential.
According to the Nghe An Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, low tourism revenue stems from three main bottlenecks.
First, tourism products are still lacking in uniqueness, and experiences are not diverse. Cua Lo is one of the beautiful beaches of the Central region, but there is still a lack of nighttime entertainment activities, causing tourists to stay for short days. Kim Lien relic site welcomes millions of visitors each year, but most of them only visit during the day, without creating many additional services to extend spending time.
Second, infrastructure and connectivity are still limited, while many key tourism projects are being implemented slowly. Transportation to tourist destinations in remote and isolated areas, especially western Nghe An, is still difficult. The connection between destinations in the province and regional linkage is not effective, causing Nghe An not to take advantage of its bridging position.
Third, Nghe An tourism is still heavily dependent on summer. At other times of the year, the number of visitors decreases significantly, causing instability in revenue.
Need to remove bottlenecks
According to Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to transform potential into a real growth engine, the province needs to synchronously implement many solutions.
First of all, Nghe An needs to develop unique tourism products with its own identity such as community ecotourism in the Mekong Delta associated with the cultural experiences of the Thai and Mong ethnic groups; spiritual tourism associated with the system of temples, pagodas, historical relics; and at the same time develop modern resorts, entertainment, green tourism and smart tourism.
In addition, the province needs to improve infrastructure quality, accelerate key transport projects, encourage investment in high-class resorts, and strengthen links with Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh and northern Laos localities to form longer and more attractive tours.
To reduce seasonality, Nghe An needs to organize more annual cultural, festival, and sports events to attract tourists year-round. In particular, it is necessary to develop night tourism in Vinh and Cua Lo with pedestrian streets, night markets, and art performances; and at the same time promote promotion on digital platforms and major media channels.
Another important solution is to develop high-quality human resources, train a team of professional tourism workers, from tour guides to service staff, to meet the increasing demands of tourists.
Nghe An tourism is facing a great opportunity to break through. However, to become a key economic sector, the drastic involvement of the entire political system, businesses and the community is needed. When good bottlenecks in products, infrastructure, connectivity and synchronous implementation of strategic solutions are resolved, Nghe An tourism can completely improve revenue and affirm its position on the tourism map of Vietnam and the region" - Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong shared.
