The treasure trove of the Northwest
Coming to Dien Bien in the blooming season, Dang Thu Ha (Bac Giang) was surprised that this place was so beautiful and dreamy, even though this journey was much longer and more arduous than trips to other mountainous provinces.
During her days in Dien Bien, she visited places in the Dien Bien Phu Victory Historical Relic System: A1 Hill, De Castries Cave, Dien Bien Phu Historical Victory Museum, Dien Bien Phu Martyrs Cemetery...
Every story about the tireless struggles for independence of our nation's soldiers makes her grateful, proud and moved to the pulse.
I have too many difficult words to arrange to talk about this trip. Dien Bien has too many good things but few people pay attention. Long distances, tourism has not really developed commensurate with what Dien Bien has" - Ms. Ha expressed.
Dien Bien currently has 31 ranked historical relics, including 1 special national relic, 14 national relics, 16 provincial relics; 18 national intangible cultural heritages; Xoi Thai art and Then practice of the Tay, Nung, and Thai people are included by UNESCO in the list of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
As a land favored by nature, Dien Bien owns many caves, mineral water sources and lakes such as: Muong Nhe primeval forest, Pa Thom cave, Tham Pua, Hua Pe hot mineral stream, U Va; Pa Khoang lake, Pe Luong... In particular, the Ban Hoa Festival is a memorable destination every March of Dien Bien.
As for Son La province, each month of the year is associated with a flower season: January and February have cherry blossoms and plum blossoms; March and beyond is the flower season; buckwheat flowers last from August to October; canola flowers bloom in the last 2 months of the year.
In recent years, the trend of flower season travel has become increasingly popular. The plum blossom season in Moc Chau (Son La) in the middle of the 2025 Lunar New Year holiday not only "exploded" in the media but also on all the streets in the locality.
On March 15, flower festivals in the province opened consecutively to attract tourists such as: Ban flower festival (Son La city), paint flower festival (Nam Nghiep village, Ngoc Chien commune, Muong La)...
In addition to the flower seasons that attract tourists, Ta Xua is a name that must be mentioned when tourists want to hunt clouds in the North. It is even called a paradise on earth by many tourists.
Innovation efforts
There have been efforts to make Northwest tourism an economic sector. In the first quarter of 2025, the total number of visitors to Son La is estimated at about 1.87 million tourists; estimated revenue is about VND 2,219 billion; the number of tourists to Dien Bien is 426,100, total revenue from tourism activities is VND 768 billion. In Lao Cai alone, by the end of March 2025, the total number of tourists coming to Lao Cai reached more than 3 million, the total revenue from tourists reached over 10,000 billion VND.
Despite possessing famous historical sites, scenic spots, pristine nature, unique local culture, and diverse cuisine, the 6 Northwestern provinces have not developed tourism evenly and commensurate with their inherent potential, lacking unique tourism products and low service quality...
Mr. Hoang Manh Duy - Deputy Executive Director of Moc Chau Island Complex Entertainment Complex - assessed that communication activities have not been allocated equally in areas in the province. In Son La, at present, Moc Chau tourism is more focused than other areas.
He expressed: However, the Son La provincial government always implements incentive policies, creates good conditions for local tourism businesses and welcomes units to survey and invest. Our businesses themselves also regularly participate in tourism stimulus programs, connecting travel agencies or promoting at promotional fairs to attract more tourists.
Mr. Ngo Thanh Tung - Deputy Director of Tay Bac Media and Tourism Company in Hoa Binh - commented: "In fact, the tourism industry of the Northwest locality has not yet developed commensurate with the advantages. Currently, our company has had many promotional projects to attract domestic and foreign visitors to the Northwestern provinces. Thereby, creating more jobs and income to promote economic development".
Ms. Dinh Thi Huong - Head of the Department of Culture and Sports of Moc Chau town - shared that in the coming time, the local government will work with travel companies specializing in welcoming international tourists to review, evaluate Moc Chau's strengths and adjust them to suit the tastes of tourists; widely disseminate to the people to improve, innovate and create suitable services.
The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dien Bien province also organized a presstrip program at the 2025 Ban Flower Festival and the 8th Dien Bien Ethnic Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival, thereby inviting digital content creators (Travel blogger, TikToker, YouTuber), reporters from press agencies and travel companies to participate in experiencing and sharing memorable images and moments about the culture, people and nature of Dien Bien province.
At the same time, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dien Bien province will continue to promote, strengthen links and cooperate in tourism development with other provinces and cities in the country and some countries such as Laos, Thailand, China, France, South Korea, Japan ... accelerate synchronous transformation in the whole culture, sports and tourism industry; Building tourism products associated with promoting the development and experience of cultural types to learn history about sources, quintessence of food, customs, customs and lifestyles of ethnic minorities.
