Minh Phương

PHÚ THỌ — Great location, diverse agricultural products, and lots to see and do. The northern province of Phú Thọ really is the perfect place to visit.

Just 100km from Hà Nội, Phú Thọ has always been a popular destination, but this week for the Hùng Kings Festival, crowds are expected to flock in their droves.

But it’s not just the Hùng Kings' Temple site that people visit. There are many other top spots to tour, like the Thanh Thủy hot springs site and Xuân Sơn National Park.

As the country continues to get back on its feet following the pandemic, Phú Thọ is pushing agritourism, and taking advantage of good climate, large areas of agricultural land, and traditional craft villages, building tailor-made tours to offer unique and different experiences for visitors.

Deputy director of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Trần Tú Anh said: “Before the pandemic, Phú Thọ Province welcomed from seven to eight million visitors to Hùng Kings’ Temple a year, but there were still not many visitors who choose the agricultural tour.

“The model of tourism combined with agriculture will not only be a chance to promote the province’s agricultural products and specialities to tourists but also help attract more tourists to the province.”

Many tours linking agricultural producing places with the province’s popular sites have been introduced.

Nguyễn Đức Hòa, director of the Phú Thọ tourism promotion centre, said that visitors can combine agricultural experience tour after visiting Hùng Kings’ Temple.

Hòa said that the agritourism model will be the key tourism product in Phú Thọ over the next few years.

“We will try to increase the attractiveness of the experience points and connect agricultural tours with other provinces’ popular tours to meet the needs of tourists,” Hòa said.

One popular place to visit is the grapefruit garden in Đoan Hùng Commune where many families enjoy the natural scenery. Visitors can pick and taste ripe grapefruit right from the garden.

Nguyễn Thị Hương, a visitor from Tuyên Quang, said: “The grapefruit from Đoan Hùng Commune is famous nationwide. I am really lucky that I can come here and see how the farmers grow grapefruit.

“The atmosphere here is really nice. I think I will come back again and bring my children here as well.”

The province is also well-known for its beautiful tea hills with high-quality tea products. Visitors to this land can immerse themselves in nature on the Long Cốc tea hill and enjoy tea picked and brewed on the spot.

Long Cốc tea hill in Phú Thọ Province attracts many tourists. — Photo courtesy of Phú Thọ tourism promotion centre

Along with fruit and tea tours, visitors also enjoy experiencing local culture. A tour “a day as a farmer” is designed for different groups of visitors. For elderly people who once lived in the countryside, they can reminisce about their childhoods in peaceful surroundings. Young people can experience the work of a true farmer and learn the value of agricultural products.

Tourists experience making rice noodles in Hùng Lô Commune. — Photo courtesy of Phú Thọ tourism promotion centre

One commune, one product

After implementing the national programme one commune – one product (OCOP) in 2019, the province now has more than 70 OCOP products, of which 40 have been recognised as four-star.

To bring those high-quality products to customers, the province has added OCOP product selling points to agricultural tours.

The opening of an agricultural tourism supermarket in the centre of Phú Thọ Province on Monday is an effort to advertise OCOP products to tourists.

The agricultural tourism supermarket opened on Monday to display and sell OCOP products to tourists. — VNS Photo Minh Phương

Trần Thanh Sơn, chairman of  Phú Thọ tourism association, said that tour companies are ready to add places selling and producing OCOP products to their schedules.

Sơn said: “Tourism businesses in the province will connect with other tourism businesses across the country to attract tourists to Phú Thọ. Along with that, we will design proper tours to bring tourists to visit and shop at stores and restaurants selling and using OCOP products.

“The agricultural experience tours at the OCOP products producing places are also being built.”

Tourists visit Đoan Hùng Commune's grapefruit stall in the agricultural tourism supermarket. — VNS Photo Minh Phương

Vũ Thị Hoài Phương, deputy director of Phú Thọ Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that many selling points to display and sell OCOP products have been set up.

Phương said: “The province also plans to build a model of agricultural tourism experience from OCOP products. Tourists can experience the product making process at the production sites. Along with that, tourists can buy OCOP products as gifts after the trip.” — VNS