On December 13, 2024, at Saigon - Phu Tho Hotel, Viet Trì city, Phu Tho province, the Conference to review the Tourism Development Cooperation Program of eight Expanded Northwestern Provinces and Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 took place. Attending the conference were leaders of the Provincial People's Committee, Department of Tourism, Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of the provinces: Phu Tho, Lao Cai, Hoa Binh, Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Yen Bai, Ha Giang and Ho Chi Minh City; representatives of the Tourism Association and typical travel businesses in the cooperation group along with a number of media agencies. Attending the Conference, Hoa Binh province had Mrs. Quach Thi Kieu, Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Mr. Bui Xuan Truong, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The leaders of Phu Tho, Lai Chau and Dien Bien provinces co-chaired the conference

In 2024, Phu Tho province, as the Head of the Cooperation Group, chaired and coordinated with the provinces and cities to develop and issue the group's general 2024 Action Plan for member provinces to base on to issue their own Plans to implement tourism cooperation activities. The provinces in the Cooperation Group have focused on promoting activities in the tourism development cooperation program. Regularly coordinating and exchanging on state management, product development, promotion and training to develop tourism human resources, etc. During the year, the Cooperation Group successfully organized 42 activities, with three activities temporarily suspended due to the impact of storm Yagi in the Northwestern provinces. The activities were carried out in accordance with the content and schedule. The results of tourism business activities in the Cooperation Group had good growth compared to the same period and exceeded the annual plan. The total number of visitors to the eight Northwestern provinces and Ho Chi Minh City reached 76,453,400, an increase of 15.5% compared to 2023 and 107.3% compared to the annual plan. Of which, the number of tourists to the eight Northwestern provinces was 32,375,000. Total tourism revenue is estimated at VND 245,661 billion, reaching 100.8% of the plan and increasing by 19.5% compared to 2023. The total number of accommodation establishments is 9,060, reaching 103% compared to 2023.

Delegates attending the conference

With the achieved results, the delegates focused on discussing and evaluating the advantages and difficulties of the 2024 program and proposed solutions to effectively implement the activities in 2025 that need to focus on: Continuing to accelerate the digital transformation process in the tourism industry. Effectively exploiting the potential advantages of local tourism to develop tourism products. Promoting cooperation and linkage activities to develop tourism through regional events. Building a chain of tourism products with unique regional linkages. Strengthening tourism propaganda, promotion and promotion activities. Improving the application of technology in tourism activities, state management as well as in promotion and promotion activities through the development of a smart tourism ecosystem, convenient mobile applications to support tourists.

Phu Tho province has handed over the role of Head of the 2025 cooperation group to Dien Bien province

At the conference, Phu Tho province handed over the role of Head of the 2025 tourism development cooperation group of the eight expanded Northwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City to Dien Bien province.

The activities of the tourism cooperation group of the eight expanded Northwest provinces have been maintained for the past 16 years, from 2020 to now, with the addition of Ho Chi Minh City. After the 2024 summary program, Dien Bien province, as the group leader, will continue to innovate, increase connections, promote, and create breakthroughs in tourism development in 2025.