Vietnam’s rich cultural heritage and scenic landscapes provide a solid foundation for rural tourism.

Tourism insiders gathered at the first UN Tourism Conference on Tourism for Rural Development in the central province of Quang Nam on December 10, highlighting the significance of rural tourism to sustainable development.

An international conference on rural tourism is taking place in Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam on December 9-11.

Vietnam, with its developed agriculture, holds huge potential to development rural and agricultural tourism. However, this type of tourism has yet to receive appropriate attention, and is still waiting for suitable policies and right opportunities to “take off”, insiders have said.

As an agricultural country boasting many traditional craft villages and beautiful landscapes, Vietnam holds considerable advantages for developing rural ecotourism, which has emerged as a trend among both domestic and international tourists in recent years.

Vietnamese tourism has been thriving in rural areas, and efforts are being made to encourage this industry to grow sustainably.

Hanoi’s outlying district of Thanh Oai, which is rich in cultural values and traditional craft villages, has focused on promoting agricultural, rural tourism models as part of efforts to fully exploit its tourism advantages.

Through the ups and downs of time, the Red River Delta province of Hung Yen still keeps intact many old communal and ancient houses as well as the customs and traditions deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture. These have turned into the province's trump card in tourism development.

The northern province of Bac Giang is focusing on promoting rural tourism development as part of its new-style rural area building scheme in the 2023-2025 period.

Four provinces in the southern part of the Red River Delta, namely Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, and Thai Binh, have been taking steps to tap into their natural advantages to develop agricultural and rural tourism.

In recent years, many provinces and cities throughout the country have bolstered the development of rural tourism in a bid to promote their natural landscapes, people, traditional crafts and products to visitors. Rural tourism is considered as the key to facilitating economic development and fostering the building of new-style rural areas.

Vietnam is striving to, by 2025, have at least one tourism attraction in each province and city with local advantages in terms of agriculture, culture, craft villages and ecological environment.

The southern province of Tay Ninh is applying itself to developing modern and civilised new-style rural areas to generate sustainable values for its countryside in the new period.

The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap is looking at ways to preserve 16 traditional craft villages that face the threat of obsolescence.

Experts consider rural areas a 'gold mine' for the tourism industry to diversify products, and there is a lot of work to be done.

Training on free trade agreements are among the measures suggested for the development of the farm produce market and rural tourism in the Mekong Delta.

Gia Binh district in the Red River Delta province of Bac Ninh has great potential to become a tourist destination given its beautiful natural scenery, rich cultural heritage and numerous traditional craft villages.

As many as 595 products of Hanoi have met criteria of the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme, an economic development programme for rural areas, in 2021.

Vietnam is taking measures to develop rural tourism through digital transformation, as the effective development of rural tourism will contribute to turning tourism into a spearhead economic sector and promoting sustainable new-style rural area building.