Speaking at a meeting to review their tourism cooperation in the 2024-2025 period in Lang Son province on November 3, Director of the Lang Son provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Dang An noted that in 2024, HCM City and the eight provinces of Bac Kan, Bac Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh, and Vinh Phuc defined to promote local tourism products, as well as diverse and unique natural tourism resources of the region, which contributed to the tourism sector's recovery and development, and the country's socio-economic development.

With the support of HCM City, the tourism promotion of the northeastern provinces saw positive changes with more tourism services and products launched to attract visitors.

However, the linkages among the provinces are still loose and the service quality is uneven, affecting tourists’ experiences, and reducing the region’s tourism attraction, An said.

He held that in 2025, HCM City and the northeastern provinces will study, develop and renew unique and typical tourism products of the region; expand the tourist market and develop separate promotion strategies for each product, tour and connecting route.

The provinces and HCM City will coordinate to implement tourism promotion programmes in key international tourism markets such as China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, India and Europe, and participate in international tourism promotion events.

Director of the HCM City Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said that the northeastern provinces need to soon develop smart tourism interactive maps at tourist sites to help tourists easily access information and tours in the region.