Tighten management
This year, the Organizing Committee of the Perfume Pagoda Tourism Festival has implemented many measures to rectify transportation activities on Yen stream - the main waterway of the festival. Notably, the maximum restriction of motorized boats circulating in the area has been seriously implemented.
Mr. Ta Dinh Dung - Media representative of the 2026 Perfume Pagoda Tourism Festival - said that this decision stems from many reasons: Motorboats causing noise and exhaust gas pollution, creating waves affecting traditional ferrying activities; some vehicles that do not meet registration conditions still operate, posing potential safety risks. According to Mr. Dung, limiting motorboats is to preserve the peaceful space of the relic site, bringing a more complete experience to tourists.
In parallel with that, transportation activities on Yen stream are strictly managed. Huong Pagoda Tourism Service Cooperative coordinates with functional forces to register and inspect vehicles in accordance with regulations. The entire route currently has 1,033 traditional boats, 2,636 boats and 6 electric boats serving operation.
All vehicles are equipped with life jackets, seats, floating devices, trash cans; numbering boats and attaching QR codes to receive feedback. Boat drivers wear identification jackets, wear cards, are professionally trained and sign commitments to serve civilized manners; wages are paid through bank accounts to ensure publicity and transparency.
In addition, electronic ticket sales, ticket control using QR codes, installation of artificial intelligence application camera systems and operation of the operating center are being deployed synchronously.
The Organizing Committee strengthens landscape embellishment, strictly manages services, eateries and premises, resolutely prevents re-encroachment after clearance, and at the same time requires business households to list prices and sell at the right prices. In particular, this year, a rapid response team and a hotline were established; regularly receiving and processing information arising.
Focus on heritage preservation
Huong Pagoda Tourism Festival has long been one of the traditional festivals with a large scale, deeply influential in the cultural and religious life of people across the country, and also a unique spiritual tourism product of Hanoi Capital.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Perfume Pagoda Festival, Mr. Le Van Trang - Chairman of Huong Son Commune People's Committee - emphasized: "The Huong Son Special National Relic Complex is a great scenic spot with historical, cultural, spiritual and tourism value, with 21 relic sites including caves, temples, pagodas, streams, mountains, fields, yards... which are massive cultural tourism resources with advantages in beautiful natural landscapes, overlapping Buddhist works. Each relic site is a mark, a place of existence of a priceless Buddhist cultural heritage, a place to converge the quintessence of shining historical and cultural values of beliefs".
According to local leaders, this is the oldest and longest traditional festival in the country, converging many unique cultural activities. To maintain that position and meet the criteria of the tourist area, in the past time, the government and people of Huong Son commune have proactively innovated thinking in management, developing high-quality tourism - services, building a green, clean, beautiful, safe, and civilized environment.
The work of renovating and embellishing the landscape of the Huong Pagoda National Special Relic Area is being implemented synchronously; the tourism environment, technical infrastructure, tourism products and operations of tourism businesses are gradually improving in quality.
Through the quality of festival organization, the locality continues to affirm the outstanding value of the Huong Son complex, as a basis for submitting the recognition of Huong Pagoda as a National Tourist Area in 2026, towards completing the dossier requesting UNESCO to recognize it as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 2030.
Huong Pagoda Tourism Festival 2026 takes place from February 18th to the end of May 11th, 2026 (ie from the 2nd day of the first lunar month to the 25th day of the 3rd year of Binh Ngo), the opening ceremony is held on February 22nd, 2026 (January 6th).
According to the report of the Organizing Committee, from the 1st to the end of the 5th day of Binh Ngo Tet, the relic site welcomed 135,900 visitors, an increase of 37,561 visitors compared to the same period last year, equivalent to an increase of 138%. On the 5th day of the first lunar month alone, the number of visitors reached more than 51,000.
