Thanh Hoa – Thailand opens the “golden door” of tourism cooperation

In the context of international visitors to Thanh Hoa still accounting for a modest proportion, the Conference on promoting the Thai tourist market on October 2 opened up positive signals, hoping to turn Thanh Hoa into a strategic destination for Thai and regional tourists.

Overview of the conference to promote the Thai tourist market to Thanh Hoa

Not only stopping at potential surveys, businesses from both sides have joined hands to sign cooperation agreements, aiming to develop green tourism, exploit cultural heritage values, local experiences and high-class resorts.

Thanh Hoa converges potential, aiming at key market Thailand

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Conference on promoting the Thai tourist market, Mr. Pham Nguyen Hong - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa emphasized: Thanh Hoa is a large province in the North Central region, with an area of ​​over 11,000 km² and a population of nearly 4 million people.

Located just 2 hours by car from Hanoi and 2 hours by flight from Ho Chi Minh City via Tho Xuan airport, Thanh Hoa possesses a synchronous transport infrastructure including roads, railways, Nghi Son deep-water seaport and an international border gate to Laos.

Thanh Hoa converges all the characteristics of three economic regions: mountains and midlands, plains, and coast, creating diversity in landscape and products.

In addition to its rich natural ecosystem, Thanh Hoa also possesses a unique cultural treasure with over 300 cultural festivals, national and international heritage, and rich local cuisine.

In recent years, Thanh Hoa has been strongly attracting large-scale tourism projects. The province currently has 77 tourism investment projects with a total capital of more than 155,000 billion VND, gathering many leading corporations such as Sun Group, Flamingo, ORG, T&T, TNG.

Signing ceremony of memorandum of understanding on cooperation between tourism enterprises of Thanh Hoa province and Thailand within the framework of the Conference on promoting the Thai tourist market to Thanh Hoa

Along with that, the province has about 1,300 accommodation establishments with nearly 48,600 rooms, nearly 1,000 restaurants and 85 travel businesses (including 18 international businesses).

Although Thanh Hoa tourism is continuously among the leading localities in the country in terms of the number of visitors, the proportion of international visitors is still modest, accounting for only about 4.2 - 4.7% of total visitors.

Therefore, promoting the Thai market - a large, stable and potential market - is considered an important strategy.

In 2024, Vietnam welcomed more than 418,000 Thai visitors, ranking among the top international markets.

Thanh Hoa alone welcomed nearly 3,000 Thai visitors. These numbers show that there is still a lot of room for development if there is a suitable orientation and promotion strategy.

The Thai Famtrip delegation to Thanh Hoa from September 28 to October 3 with more than 40 travel businesses and media agencies is one of more than 150 cultural, sports and tourism events that the province will organize in 2025.

This survey trip not only promotes the destination but also creates a platform to connect products and build tours between Thanh Hoa and Thailand.

Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Dau Thanh Tung spoke at the conference

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Dau Thanh Tung - Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee affirmed: "Tourism is always an important bridge to enhance people-to-people exchange, promote economic, cultural and social cooperation.

With many similarities in culture, cuisine, beliefs and differences in landscape and identity, Vietnam and Thailand can complement each other to create new appeal in tourism products.”

From a strategic perspective, Thanh Hoa considers Thailand, especially the Northeast region of Thailand, as a key international market, due to its proximity in location, culture and convenient connectivity.

In recent times, the province has regularly organized promotional activities, welcoming Thai business delegations to conduct surveys, initially bringing about effectiveness when many companies have designed tours to Thanh Hoa.

Expectations to create a "boost" in cooperation - from field survey to contract signing

During the survey trip, the Thai famtrip delegation experienced a series of outstanding destinations of Thanh Hoa such as Ho Dynasty Citadel - World Cultural Heritage, Cam Luong God Fish Stream, Pu Luong Eco-tourism Area, Lam Kinh Special National Monument, Hai Tien Beach, Sam Son, and Ma River cruise tour.

Thai famtrip delegation visited and learned about precious artifacts at the Dong Son Culture exhibition space, Thanh Hoa Provincial Museum

At the same time, at Thanh Hoa Provincial Museum, the delegation members learned about the rich display system, with many valuable artifacts and documents from the prehistoric period to Dong Son Culture, the cradle of ancient Vietnamese civilization.

In particular, national treasures such as the Cam Giang bronze drum, the Cam Thuy bronze cauldron, and the Nua mountain short sword have left a deep impression, contributing to affirming the historical and cultural depth of Thanh land.

The delegation also participated in community activities and culinary festivals, through which they clearly felt the cultural and culinary identity of Thanh people.

Many members expressed strong impressions of the majestic natural beauty, cultural and historical depth and friendliness of the local people.

Thai businesses appreciate the potential for developing high-end resort products, green tourism and community experiences, which are trends favored by Thai outbound tourists.

Representatives of Thai businesses spoke and shared opinions at the Thanh Hoa - Thailand tourism promotion conference.

At the conference, businesses from both sides had heated discussions and made many practical proposals such as: building a high-end heritage - resort tour, implementing a joint promotion program in Thailand, promoting the application of digital platforms to communicate destinations, and organizing cultural, historical and culinary exchange events between Vietnam and Thailand to increase attraction.

The highlight of the conference was the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Thanh Hoa tourism businesses and Thai travel agencies. This is considered an important first step, creating a foundation for specific cooperation activities in the coming time, opening up opportunities to welcome a stable number of tourists from Thailand to Thanh Hoa.

Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Dau Thanh Tung also gave clear directions to concretize cooperation: The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will coordinate with the Tourism Association and businesses of the two countries to build a program to promote products in Thailand, and at the same time apply comments from Thai businesses to develop tour routes.

Localities and destination management boards need to improve infrastructure, ensure a safe and civilized tourism environment, and at the same time build new and unique products, focusing on multi-channel promotion.

The press and media continue to accompany each other in reporting and introducing Thanh Hoa tourism products and events. Local tourism businesses must innovate products, improve service quality, and build tours suitable to Thai tourists' tastes. Thai businesses and media continue to contribute ideas and spread Thanh Hoa's image to Thai people, acting as a bridge to bring tourists to Vietnam.

Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee pledges to accompany and create maximum favorable conditions for Thai enterprises to survey, invest and cooperate in business in the locality.

With common determination, the provincial leaders believe that after this conference, Thanh Hoa - Thailand tourism cooperation, especially with the Northeast of Thailand, will open up many practical, effective and sustainable opportunities.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/thanh-hoa-thai-lan-mo-rong-canh-cua-vang-hop-tac-du-lich-2025100214373506.htm