On December 25, at the Sa Pa Convention Center, Sa Pa town, a conference to summarize the tourism cooperation development program of the 8 expanded Northwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City in 2023 took place.

Attending and directing the conference was Mr. Hoang Quoc Khanh, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Lao Cai Province, Head of the Steering Committee of the 2023 Cooperation Group. Attending the conference There are leaders of the Provincial People's Committee, Department of Tourism, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the provinces: Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Ha Giang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. Hoang Quoc Khanh, Member of the Provincial Party Committee

Standing Vice Chairman of the Lao cai  Provincial People's Committee delivered the opening speech

Opening the conference, Mr. Hoang Quoc Khanh, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee of the 2023 Cooperation Group said: The expanded Northwest provinces have organized the promotional events, introducing the land, culture, and people of the 8 expanded Northwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City as well as building attractive tourism programs to attract many tourists.

Mr. Bui Xuan Truong, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism attended the conference

In 2023, the provinces have coordinated to effectively deploy a number of major activities such as: Organizing a series of Northwest Elite Festival events in Ho Chi Minh City; Northwest Cultural Tourism Week expands in Can Tho City, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi City; Northwest Culture and Tourism Week and Ho Chi Minh City in Luang-Pha-Bang province (Laos PDR). In particular, Hoa Binh province successfully organized the expanded Festival of Community Tourism Villages in the Northwest provinces in Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province. Organized surveys, built and exploited new tourism products on the Northwest arc such as "Journey to connect the Northwest national terraced rice heritage region"; The story of the brocade weaver between the Northwest sky and land and the "Majesty of the Northwest"; Going up the Da River to the land of memories, etc. The total number of tourists to the 8 expanded Northwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City in 2023 is estimated to reach 69.2 million visitors (more than 105% of the plan), an increase of 27.5% compared to 2022, accounting for about 57.4% of visitors to Vietnam. The conference evaluated the difficulties, advantages and challenges in developing tourism in 8 provinces in 2023; Propose solutions to effectively deploy activities in 2024.

Phu Tho Province, Head of the 2024 Cooperation Group presented the draft 2024 Plan, according to which many activities will take place on: Cooperation to develop tourism products; tourism promotion activities; Participate in international tourism fairs and festivals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, etc. as well as in the province in cooperation groups. Delegates discussed and exchanged opinions on solutions to overcome limitations and develop solutions for implementing next year's tasks.

Closing the conference, Standing Vice Chairman of Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee Hoang Quoc Khanh said that the Cooperation Group looks forward to receive support from the Central Government to make tourism in the Northwest region become a key economic sector and hopes that the provinces will focus on directing specialized agencies to effectively deploy the tasks of 2024.

Lao Cai leader handed over the role of Head of the 

cooperation group in 2024 to Phu Tho province

Lao Cai province has handed over the role of Head of the cooperation group for tourism development in the 8 expanded Northwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 to Phu Tho province to continue organizing and implementing.

The expanded tourism development cooperation program of 8 Northwest provinces is a product of regional tourism development cooperation, starting activities in November 2008. In 2021, Ho Chi Minh City joins the cooperation connection. According to the signed content, the provinces in the cooperation group take turns holding the role of group leader. Over a 15-year journey, with the attention and support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam National Tourism Administration and local leaders, up to now the Cooperation Group has built strong solid foundation, achieving many results in state management, product development - human resources and promotion and calling for investment in the field of tourism.