Thanh Hoa (VNA) – Sam Son city in thecentral coastal province of Thanh Hoa is famous for its beautiful beaches,along with historical and cultural sites and landscape.

The Sam Son historical relic and scenery, recognisedas a special national site in 2019, is home to both landscape and architecturalworks of historical and cultural values.

Such temples as Doc Cuoc, To Hien and Co Tien have madethe site an attractive destination of spiritual culture.

Doc Cuoc, an ancient temple located on the TruongLe mountain range in Truong Son ward, worships Doc Cuoc God, who sacrificed himselfto protect fishermen in Sam Son.

Meanwhile, Hon Trong Mai (Trong Mai Rocks) isassociated with the legend of the faithful love of a young couple who diedtogether.

Another attraction in Sam Son is the templededicated to To Hien Thanh, a good general and mandarin under the Ly dynasty(1533-1789). The temple was recognised as a national cultural relic in 1962.

There are 35 historical and cultural relics in SamSon, of which eight have won the national status and 27 been recognised by theprovince, along with many unique traditional festivals like the Doc Cuoc templefestival, the Banh Chung (square glutinous rice cake) festival, and the Cau Ngu festival by local fishermen, among others.

The city aims to become one of festivals in thefuture.

Sam Son beach is a familiar destination for manypeople thanks to its hidden charms, including Van Chai ancient fishing village.The village is busy at dawn as fishermen returning ashore with catches and thoseat home coming to help sort out the fish.

Sam Son town was promoted into a city in 2017, in amove which aims to meet the local urbanisation process and develop Sam Son intoa national tourist city.

In addition to the renowned Sam Son beach, Thanh Hoais home to various attractions, namely Hai Tien in Hoang Hoa district, TienTrang Quang Xuong in Quang Xuong district, Hai Hoa and Hai Thanh in Tinh Gia, Bai Dong (East Beach), Vinh Son, Quang Nham, and Hai Binh.

Thanh Hoa has also been known for Ben En NationalPark and part of Cuc Phuong National Park; and Pu Luong, Xuan Lien and Pu HuNature Reserves; and Nam Dong and Sen Tam Quy species reserves. The provincehas eight protection forest management boards and 11 conservation areas ofscenic spots, and historical and cultural relic sites.

The province is seen as one of the localities withhuge potential for developing tourism on the back of its diverse and richtourism resources, both natural and human.

Known as a "miniature Vietnam", Thanh Hoahas all kinds of terrain, from mountain, midland, to plain and coast, with manybeautiful landscapes and valuable historical – cultural vestiges. At the sametime, the province also has a system of infrastructure and technical facilitiesfor tourism that is constantly expanding, gradually improving quality, convenienceand modernity.

In recent years, Thanh Hoa has become one of the topcities and provinces in terms of tourism growth nationwide. During the2016-2019 period, the number of tourist arrivals in the province grew by 15.2% annuallywhile tourism revenue rose by 31.7%  year-on-year, contributing greatly to localsocio-economic development.

After the COVID-19 pandemic was put under good control, Thanh Hoatourism has become bustle again with the reopening of all tourist destinations. Theprovince is creating its image as a safe, friendly and attractive destination.Apart from tourism resources, infrastructure and diverse products, differenceis also a highlight, thus prompting visitors to travel to the locality.

Local tourism sector has posted impressive growth inrecent years. However, its development is still not commensurate withpotential./.