Despite owning Nguyen Du Relic Site with special value, Ha Tinh still lacks strong enough experience products to form a cultural tourism brand, and has not created connections with tourism routes in the region.
Heritage has not been exploited accordingly
Nguyen Du relic site in Nghi Xuan is a cultural space associated with the homeland of the Nguyen Tien Dien family. The complex includes a church, an exhibition area, a tomb and auxiliary items, creating a rich historical and spiritual space.
Currently, this place preserves nearly 1,000 artifacts and documents about Nguyen Du's life, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year. The relic is ranked as a "Special National Monument", becoming the basis for Ha Tinh to invest in preserving and developing it into a key destination of the province.
The People's Committee of Ha Tinh province aims to develop the memorial area according to the orientation of "Conservation of origin - Promoting sustainability - Taking tourism as a driving force". Many landscape items, traditional architecture and craft villages in the area have been restored to preserve Tien Dien's identity.
Tourism - cultural activities are implemented through thematic exhibitions, death anniversaries, commemorative exhibitions, reading contests of Truyen Kieu, Tro Kieu, calligraphy... creating a cultural educational environment for students, teachers and tourists.
The Relic Management Board has applied QR, VR, AR experiences to increase access to information; at the same time, coordinated with travel businesses to include destinations in tours. Art forms such as Ca Tru, Vi Giam, land Kieu, Xam Kieu were also restored and performed, helping Truyen Kieu spread to many generations.
However, the level of tourism exploitation is still not commensurate with the potential. Ha Tinh has not yet formed a unique experience product, there is no large-scale interpretation - interaction space; tour connection activities are still disjointed.
Big promotion opportunities
International experience shows that literary heritage, when properly invested, can become a large-scale destination.
In Stratford-upon-Avon (UK), his hometown Shakespeare welcomes 2.5-3 million visitors a year. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust not only preserves houses and artifacts but also builds a diverse experience system: shakespeare walking tours, recreating historical spaces, art workshops, and thematic performances.
In Russia, the Pushkin National Museum in Saint Petersburg with about 200,000 artifacts welcomes about 500,000 visitors each year. The museum has developed virtual reality tours that allow visitors to visit the exhibition space and the artifact warehouse online, significantly expanding public access.
These models show that literary heritage can become the "heart" of local tourism if invested in the right direction: preserving the original but expanding into an experiential ecosystem.
According to the Ha Tinh Tourism Association, Nguyen Du relic space possesses rich materials to form typical products: Kieu triathlon performances, experiences transforming into characters of Truyen Kieu, tours interacting with artifacts, seasonal cultural events...
However, the locality still lacks tourism businesses with enough investment capacity, lacks a heritage management model towards "open heritage" and has not created an inter-regional product chain. The relic space is not yet connected to famous tourist routes such as Xuan Thanh - Thien Cam - Huong Tich Pagoda, Dong Loc Intersection, or Cua Lo - Nam Dan points of Nghe An. The lack of linkage has caused the expansion of cultural and spiritual tourism products to not take shape.
To make Nguyen Du heritage a vibrant cultural destination, Ha Tinh needs to continue to invest in experiential products, build a consistent tourism story, expand regional linkages and attract businesses to join the tourism value chain.
In 2025, Ha Tinh will hold the "260th Anniversary of the birth of the Great Sphinx Nguyen Du (1765-2025)" on the evening of December 20, 2025, at Thanh Sen Square. On this occasion, many cultural activities took place such as folk art performances associated with Tryen Kieu, exhibitions and displays of publications about Nguyen Du and Ha Tinh culture.
This is an opportunity for the locality to promote heritage values to the public and international friends, while creating a boost to build the image of a typical cultural destination of the Central region.
Proper investment in Nguyen Du heritage will help Ha Tinh not only preserve the value of the great championship but also form a driving force for sustainable tourism development, making Tien Dien a typical cultural destination of Vietnam in the future.
