Tourists attend a festival at Bái Đính Pagoda – the famous destination in Ninh Bình Province. — Photo baovanhoa.vn

NINH BÌNH — Authorities in Ninh Bình Province have announced strong tourism growth in the first half of the year, with a record nearly 17.6 million arrivals and total revenue of nearly VNĐ18 trillion (US$684 million).

This has shown a remarkable increase over the same period last year, with tourist numbers and revenue up 23.3 per cent and 21.75 per cent, respectively, reaching 88 per cent and 89.8 per cent of the yearly plan.

Among the total arrivals, 15.8 million were domestic and 1.8 million foreign visitors.

The figures were cited in the latest report from the provincial People's Committee, which was issued this week at the opening session of the provincial People's Council's regular meeting, 16th term, 2026-2031.

The report provided a brief review of the province's socio-economic development in the first six months of the year and directions and key tasks for the last six months of 2026.

Accommodation establishments in Ninh Binh province served over 3.4 million visitors, an increase of 29.55 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of these, over 2.58 million were overnight stays, an increase of 27.67 per cent. Total revenue from tourist stays at accommodation establishments was VNĐ9.2 billion, up 35.69 per cent.

Ninh Bình organised a variety of impressive cultural, art and tourism activities in the first half of the year, attracting a large number of foreign and domestic tourists, such as Bái Đính Pagoda Festival, Tam Chúc Pagoda Festival, Trần Temple Opening Ceremony, Tràng An Festival, Hoa Lư Festival, Ninh Bình Tourism Week 2026, Tam Cốc - Tràng An Golden Festival and the creative music event of Forestival 2026.

Furthermore, Ninh Bình's first-ever Sea Tourism Festival 2026 marked the expansion of its tourism scope from cultural and ecological heritage areas to the province's southern coastal region.

Tourists take boat trips to Thung Nham Bird Park in Ninh Bình Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Thùy Dung

In its report on tourism achievements in the first six months of the year, the provincial Department of Tourism (DoT) said it has actively implemented important resolutions, plans, and projects aimed at orienting the development of Ninh Binh's cultural and tourism industry until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

The province also focused on implementing a development plan for marine tourism in the period 2026-2030, organising Ninh Binh Tourism Week in 2026 and consolidating a plan on renaming the famous Quất Lâm Tourist Area into Giao Ninh Tourist Area.

For the work of preserving and promoting the heritage values, the DoT, in coordination with domestic and international experts and scientists, and relevant agencies, is researching and preparing documents to build a scientific dossier for the 'Eco-Cultural Landscape and White-faced Langur Preservation of Vân Long - Kim Bảng - Tam Chúc' area, to submit for UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site.

This area has already been approved by UNESCO for inclusion in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites under the 1972 World Heritage Convention, according to the provincial DoT.

Tourism management and tour guide services have been implemented synchronously. Currently, the province has 85 businesses providing tourism services, including 17 international and 68 domestic travel agencies; 633 tour guide licenses are still active, including 202 international, 331 domestic and 100 local tour guide licenses.

The province has been continuously focusing on tourism accommodation, both in quantity and quality. It currently has 1,540 accommodation establishments with nearly 22,400 rooms, ranging from hotels, homestays, bungalows, tourist apartments to specialised accommodation models.

In the first six months of the year, the DoT has coordinated the assessment and recognition of 4-star and 5-star ratings for two hotels; inspected and guided the technical infrastructure conditions for 188 tourism accommodation establishments.

Tourism promotion and marketing efforts have also been intensified across both traditional and digital channels.

As of June 2026, the DoT had collaborated in publishing approximately 46,000 tourism promotional publications and distributed over 22,400 publications of various types.

Websites dedicated to Ninh Bình's heritage and tourism have published over 1,300 news articles, images, and audio recordings; and implemented 255 videos, posts, and media content for approximately 20 events and festivals in the province, attracting over 30 million interactions.

Digital transformation in tourism is being strengthened with various solutions aimed at enhancing the visitor experience and improving state management efficiency.

The DoT is completing the Ninh Binh Tourism Information Portal, digitising destination data, integrating digital maps, search utilities, and chatbots to support online tourists, and cashless payments.

The five kiosk system and 32 free Wi-Fi hotspots have been set up at tourist sites, with a record of over 40,000 visits to access tourism information.

With the remakable results achieved in the first six months of the year, Ninh Bình tourism continues to affirm its role as a vital economic sector, contributing to spreading the image of the ancient capital region as a rich cultural heritage, a safe and attractive destination for domestic and international tourists, according to the province's DoT report. — VNS