“Miracle” numbers

Some people may still think that Sam Son is a beach with poor tourism infrastructure, “cannot-be-graded” motels and hotels, and restaurants that know how to make customers “go and never return”.

Sam Son Beach is crowded with tourists during summer 2023.

But for the last two to three years, a new Sam Son has become jubilant and vibrant every summer, with crowded beaches, luxury resorts and hotels, modern highways, and polite restaurants becoming the norm. Sam Son tourism is no longer a concern for tourists when they seek the answer to the question: where to go this summer.

Sam Son has become a “tourism phenomenon”, surprising people.

In the first six months of 2022, when national tourism had just restarted after the pandemic, Sam Son became a highlight in many newspapers. Although it is the city with the smallest area in Vietnam (45 km2), it welcomed the largest number of tourists nationwide, above some famous places such as Nha Trang, Vung Tau, Ha Long, etc., reaching 4.1 million of the 6.8 million tourists visiting Thanh Hoa province.

In the first six months of 2023, experts said that many domestic tourist destinations were unlikely to meet their expectations, and may even see a reduction in the number of tourists, because the “revenge travel” trend after the epidemic had passed, the international market had opened and people tend to go abroad more. However, Sam Son continued to set new records, with 5.3 million tourists in the first six months of the year, an increase of nearly 30%, accounting for 64% of the total number of tourists to Thanh Hoa, with revenue reaching over VND9.1 trillion, an increase of 2.7 times compared to the same period last year.

Thus, in terms of the number of tourists, in the first six months of the year, Sam Son has been dominating in comparison with several destinations that have more preeminent advantages of nature and infrastructure such as Da Nang (3.5 million tourists) or Phu Quoc (1.4 million tourists).

Tourists watch a water music performance at Sam Son Beach Square.

What accounts for the turnaround of a sea tourism city that has been subject to many prejudices?

The answer is a worthy tourism product

What Sam Son has achieved in the past two to three years is explained by the fact that the city has constantly improved its infrastructure and service quality. The involvement of the local government has made Sam Son cleaner and more civilized. No harassment from touts, no beggars, no longer sleazy, etc.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thi, Standing Vice-Chairman of the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa Province, said that Thanh Hoa’s tourism products recently were greatly varied, from sea tourism and spiritual tourism to historical cultural tourism, experiences, and more. Sam Son has attracted investment from many large corporations, creating new tourism products and bringing new experiences to tourists coming to Thanh Hoa. It is impossible not to mention the high-class products that Sun Group has invested in and created.

Street carnival festival attracts tourists to Sam Son.

In the past three years, from 2021 to 2023, every summer tourism season of Sam Son has kicked off with a large-scale and monumental sea tourism festival, gathering top artists, high-class performances, and spectacular fireworks displays. Then, next is the Sam Son street carnival festival; Sam Son Motor Festival 2022; unique Sun Fest art events every weekend during the summer months of 2022, and so on. Sam Son has transformed from a destination with poor experiences to an attractive one with jubilant events and festivals.

On the opening day of the Sam Son Beach Tourism Festival on April 22, 2023, Sam Son welcomed hundreds of thousands of tourists. From the beginning of June until now, tourist numbers to Sam Son have constantly risen. The hotels are always full, even on weekdays. Many famous restaurants said that they even had to refuse guests who do not book a table in advance to ensure their quality of service.

“Tourism services in Sam Son are getting better and better. The roads are convenient, especially this year, the beach square has been completed and the water music performance is very classy. My family never thought Sam Son would be so beautiful as now,” said Manh Truong, a tourist from Son La.

Sam Son Beach Square - a new entertainment space for residents and tourists.

Many visitors to Sam Son this year were amazed at the fantastic change in the city. Sam Son Beach Square’s area is 2 ha. It was invested in by Sun Group and was officially launched in April 2023, creating a Sam Son that many tourists say is as beautiful as Singapore.

The entire square has a capacity for 10,000 people with a festival landscape axis 2.6 km long, 120 m wide, consulted and designed by ASPECT Studios (Australia) with many features such as The Kissing Rocks, trees decorated with Dong Son bronze drums, resting chairs, underground toilets, automatic water vending machines, etc. Impressively, the square has two fountains using German technology with 300 nozzles and the lighting system is combined with full-range, synchronized ultrasonic loudspeakers, controlled by a modern software system, creating a water music show with many themes such as Shining sublimation, Sunshine rendezvous, Sea Concert, Love melody, and more.

The festival landscape of sparkling Sam Son City at night

Since its appearance, the water music stage at Sam Son Beach Square has brought people and tourists impressive and new performances that are appearing for the first time in Thanh Hoa Province. Thanks to that, the square space is always crowded with people who are entertained on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights during the water music performances. Images of the square space have become the reason for many first-time tourists to Sam Son.

“I did not believe that Sam Son could build such a classy square when I saw the images in the press and social networks. But I was still curious to try to come to Sam Son. And in fact, it’s as beautiful as Singapore,” shared Pham Thu Hanh, a Hanoi tourist.

From a destination with a bad reputation, now Sam Son is continuously leading in both the number of tourists and revenue. The spectacular change of Sam Son tourism is clear proof that well-invested destinations with good, new, and unique products will consistently attract tourists.