Tourists experience the great sea bathing in Lý Sơn. Accommodation providers across the Lý Sơn Special Zone in Quảng Ngãi Province are ready to offer visitors the best possible experience. — VNA/VNS Photo

QUẢNG NGÃI — With Tết (Lunar New Year) drawing near, Lý Sơn is stepping up preparations across its accommodation sector to welcome a surge of domestic and international visitors.

The Lunar New Year 2026 is fast approaching and is regarded as a golden period for tourism, particularly for attracting international visitors.

Accommodation providers across the Lý Sơn Special Zone in Quảng Ngãi Province have made careful preparations and are ready to offer visitors the best possible experience.

Diverse options

Covering an area of less than 10sq.km, Lý Sơn is home to some 50 historical and cultural relics, including four national-level sites, two national intangible cultural heritages and 19 provincial-level relics.

This richness and diversity have helped shape the island’s distinctive identity.

As a strategically important outpost island of Việt Nam, Lý Sơn is gradually affirming its position on the national tourism map.

In particular, since being approved by the Prime Minister for inclusion on the list of potential sites for the development of a National Tourism Area for the 2021-30 period, with a vision to 2045, the island has increasingly become a preferred destination for many travellers.

Hưng Thịnh Hotel, a newly recognised two-star accommodation facility, enjoys a favourable location in the centre of Lý Sơn Port.

Taking advantage of this, its owner, Nguyễn Thị Nga, has invested in renovating and upgrading the guest rooms, equipping them with full amenities and creating a bright, airy and comfortable environment for visitors.

Sharing her business orientation, Nga said the hotel always places credibility first, aiming for sustainable development. Owners and staff alike maintain a friendly, enthusiastic and hospitable attitude, taking visitors’ satisfaction as the key measure of service quality.

According to Nga, besides public holidays and the summer season, Tết is a peak period for accommodation businesses.

Experience over many years shows that visitors tend to flock to Lý Sơn on the third and fourth days of Tết, when many hotels are fully booked.

At present, around 70 per cent of the hotel’s rooms have already been reserved online, mainly by visitors from northern provinces.

On normal days, the hotel offers discounted rates to support travellers, while during peak periods prices are kept stable, without arbitrary increases. As a result, many visitors feel reassured when choosing to stay there, she added.

Meanwhile, Phùng Văn Hải, executive director of Ngọc Island Lý Sơn Hotel and Resort, said the unit has proactively rearranged all rooms and landscaped areas in a refined, luxurious and modern style to create a distinctive “signature”.

The resort is also offering promotional programmes, including a 10 per cent discount on room rates during the Tết holiday.

Lý Sơn currently has more than 130 accommodation establishments, with over 1,000 rooms, capable of serving more than 3,000 guests per day. — VNA/VNS Photo

“Green” homestays

The homestay model has emerged as a new development direction in the Lý Sơn Special Zone and is being actively encouraged by local authorities.

Through practical research, Phùng Văn Quang observed that in recent years, visitors to Lý Sơn have increasingly preferred homestays over traditional hotels or guesthouses. From this, he decided to invest several billions of đồng in building Hải Yến Homestay.

The project covers more than 1,200 square metres, with eight rooms and a main frontage facing the sea. It is scheduled for completion on February 8 (the 21st day of the 12th lunar month), in time to welcome Tết visitors.

A distinctive feature of the project is that the entire homestay is constructed from trường mật wood, a material known for its durability and load-bearing capacity.

The use of wood not only creates a unique architectural character but also aligns with the “green” development trend, helping to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable tourism.

“I have chosen my own path, based on what visitors truly want and need,” Quang said. “Staying in wooden rooms gives them a sense of warmth, tranquillity and connection with nature, a genuine emotional touchpoint. I believe Hải Yến Homestay will attract strong interest from visitors.”

According to Phan Văn Thảo, head of the Culture and Social Affairs Division of the Lý Sơn Special Zone, the locality has drawn up plans to organise activities welcoming the Spring of Bính Ngọ 2026.

Highlights include the New Year flag-raising ceremony on the morning of February 17 (the first day of Tết) at Lý Sơn Square; the traditional Tứ Linh boat racing festival from February 20-23 (the fourth to seventh days of Tết); and various cultural and ritual festivals at An Hải and An Vĩnh communal houses.

Through these activities, the locality aims to strengthen communication and tourism promotion, while developing distinctive tourism products linked to local potential and advantages to meet visitors’ demand for sightseeing and experiential travel.

According to Nguyễn Văn Huy, chairman of the People’s Committee of the Lý Sơn Special Zone, accommodation providers are required to focus on improving service quality while developing new tourism products.

The Special Zone has also instructed relevant agencies to establish a QR code system providing transparent information on essential services.

Accordingly, when visiting Lý Sơn, tourists only need to scan a QR code to access publicly available information on room rates, dining services and transport costs, making it easier to choose services that suit their needs.

In addition, the locality will strengthen management and take firm action against touting, unfair practices and overcharging, contributing to the goal of building Lý Sơn into a friendly, safe and attractive tourism destination.

Lý Sơn currently has more than 130 accommodation establishments, with over 1,000 rooms, capable of serving more than 3,000 guests per day.

In recent years, thanks to a range of large-scale tourism stimulus programmes and festivals, visitor numbers have surged. Tourism has become a key economic sector, generating revenue of hundreds of billions of đồng each year. — VNS