The northern province of Phú Thọ welcomes nearly 6.5 million visitors during the 2026 Hùng Kings Commemoration Day and the Hùng Kings Temple Festival. — VNA/VNS Photo

PHÚ THỌ — The northern province of Phú Thọ welcomed nearly 6.5 million visitors during the 2026 Hùng Kings Commemoration  Day and the Hùng Kings Temple Festival, representing a year-on-year 12 per cent, reinforcing its status as one of the leading cultural and spiritual tourism destinations of the country.

According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, this year’s festival and the Ancestral Land Culture - Tourism Week 2026 featured a wide range of activities across the Hùng Kings Temple historical relic site and surrounding areas, drawing pilgrims and tourists from major cities including Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, Quảng Ninh and Hồ Chí Minh City.

Local officials said visitor patterns continued to evolve, with more families and young travellers combining pilgrimage with short cultural and leisure trips. Many visitors also extended their stays to explore nearby eco-tourism and wellness destinations, helping boost tourism spending and lengthen stays

Nguyễn Thị Hồng Thúy, Deputy Director of the department, said 2026 marks the first year the locality has organised the festival within its newly expanded development space, with many notable highlights.

This year’s festival featured a blend of traditional rituals and new tourism experiences, including Xoan singing performances, folk street festivals, contests recreating the making of chung and day cakes linked to the Hùng Kings legend, night tours at the Hùng Kings Temple, art performances and fairs showcasing local specialties.

A high-altitude fireworks display at Văn Lang Park in Việt Trì also emerged as a major draw, contributing to high occupancy rates at local accommodation facilities during peak days.

The surge in arrivals generated spillover benefits for hospitality, transport, trade and entertainment services, with many businesses upgrading services and introducing new products to meet growing and more diverse demand.

The province also rolled out tourism stimulus campaigns under the themes Phú Thọ – Come to Love and Phú Thọ Tourism – A Multicolour Experience, aimed at broadening the destination’s appeal beyond pilgrimage tourism.

Online travel platform Agoda reported accommodation searches for Phú Thọ rose five-fold in the month leading up to the festival compared to the same period last year, particularly during the main celebrations from April 24-26.

Phan Trọng Tấn, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the positive results underscored tourism’s growing role as a key economic sector and supported the province’s ambition to become a national centre for cultural and festival tourism.

Under its development strategy to 2030, Phú Thọ aims to welcome around 20 million visitors annually, including nearly 8 million overnight guests, and generate about VNĐ26.5 trillion (over US$1 billion) in tourism revenue. — VNA/VNS