2018 was considered a successful year for Cao Bang’s tourism sector, as the northern mountainous province welcomed a record 1.2 million tourists, a year-on-year rise of 30%.
The local tourism industry grossed 360 billion VND (15.5 million USD) in revenue, up 90 percent against the previous year.
In 2018, Non Nuoc Cao Bang received the global geopark status from UNESCO, while Ban Gioc waterfall tourism site was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to become a national key tourist attraction.
The historical relic of Dong Khe victory was also recognised as a national special relic site.
Located in the northeastern region of the country, Cao Bang is endowed with breathtaking natural scenery, including majestic mountain ranges and beautiful terraced fields.
It is also home to the unique cultures of eight ethnic minority groups, namely Tay, Nung, Mong, Dao, San Chi, Lo lo, Kinh and Hoa.
Cao Bang is home to 214 cultural and historical relic sites, encompassing three national special ones, namely Pac Bo, Tran Hung Dao and Dong Khe.
It has a special geological structure with Non Nuoc Cao Bang recognised as a global geopark.
Non Nuoc Park was established in 2015. It is now the second UNESCO-recognised Global Geopark in Vietnam after Dong Van Karst Plateau, which was accredited in 2010. The park is also the eighth of its kind in Southeast Asia to receive the status.
Located about 300km from Hanoi, Non Nuoc Cao Bang covers more than 3,000 square kilometres in the districts of Ha Quang, Tra Linh, Quang Uyen, Trung Khanh, Ha Lang and Phuc Hoa and part of Hoa An, Nguyen Binh and Thach An districts.
It is home to fossils, ocean sediment, volcanic rocks, minerals and karst landscapes, which can give researchers an insight into an over-500-million-year history of the Earth. It is also known for rich biodiversity and many indigenous fauna and flora species.
According to Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Sam Viet An, Cao Bang has the opportunity to develop various kinds of tourism such as cultural tourism, spiritual tourism, adventure tourism, ecological tourism and geological tourism.
The province is exerting efforts to reform administrative procedures and to help businesses to invest in tourism infrastructure development.
Local authorities proposed the Government enact a special mechanism for the province to promote tourism cooperation with foreign businesses and enable more international tourists to visit border tourism areas, he added.
In recent years, Ta Xua, dubbed "the paradise of clouds", has emerged as one of the mountainous destinations attracting strong interest from young travellers, particularly for its spectacular sea of clouds stretching across the mountains in the northwestern region.
Training local young people in filming, audio recording, digital storytelling, data preservation and responsible use of AI can help build a new generation of cultural custodians. This, in turn, can help transform cultural heritage into a resource for economic development while contributing to the country’s broader development.
The exhibits are presented as historical and legal materials proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa in the East Sea.
With growing recognition of indigenous knowledge, customs and cultural values as unique assets, ethnic communities in the northern mountainous region are shifting from simply providing tourism services to becoming creators and owners of tourism products, confidently telling their own cultural stories
When local people remain the custodians of their resources, tourism can become a reason for them to stay, maintain their livelihoods, and renew community value rather than replacing it.
Alongside the RoK, Da Nang has stepped up tourism promotion in India, Japan, China, Russia and CIS countries, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Jonathan Wallace Baker, UNESCO Representative to Vietnam, noted that the official proclamation of the 2027–2036 period as the "International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development" comes at a particularly important moment. As the international community works to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda while beginning to consider what comes after 2030, the Decade provides a ten-year framework to strengthen the place of culture in development.
Under Resolution 80-NQ/TW, dated January 7, 2026, November 24 was designated Vietnam Culture Day, to be observed annually. The occasion aims to give the public opportunities to participate in, create and enjoy cultural activities, helping spread positive values and foster pride in Vietnamese culture.
"Vietnam is part of my life," affirmed Patricia Abarzua Munoz, emphasising that the friendship between the Chilean and Vietnamese peoples is built on shared values and mutual respect.
For the MICE tourism sector in both Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam, growth can no longer be driven merely by increasing the number of events; instead, the focus must shift to enhancing the value of each event and the competitiveness of each destination.
Women’s football movements in local communities have been quietly growing, but they’ve now built up enough momentum to inspire organisers to launch the first Vietnam Ethnic Minority Women’s Football – VTV Cup in 2026.
For 2026, Vietnam's tourism sector is targeting 25 million foreign arrivals, 150 million domestic trips and total revenue of 1.125 quadrillion VND (43 billion USD).
Vietnamese film Quan Ky Nam (Ky Nam Inn) has won several awards at the 25th Imagine India International Film Festival (IIIFF) in Madrid, including Best Director.
According to the magazine, boat trips into Phong Nha Cave and strolls through Paradise Cave (both family-friendly) offer a tantalising glimpse of their astonishing scale, but the real adventure lies deeper within the park, where cavers wade through underground rivers and weave among stalagmites.
Tourism effectiveness should be measured not only by visitor numbers and revenue, but also by spending, length of stay, repeat visits, job quality, visitor satisfaction and environmental carrying capacity, said experts.
The National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance reported that Vietnam welcomed nearly 2 million international visitors in August, up 19.7% from July and 18.4% year-on-year. The figure represented 63.6% of the tourism sector’s full-year target of 25 million arrivals.
For the Mong people in Ta Dung, Dak R’mang is not merely a weekly rendezvous, but a space preserving memories of their northwestern hometowns and cultural identity in their new land.
Ngo Phuong Ly, the spouse of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam, said the two countries share similarities in silk weaving and can enrich their cultural heritage through exchanges and experience sharing.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism said on late September 2 that the southern metropolis welcomed an estimated 1.65 million domestic visitors and 62,000 foreign tourists over the break.