With its strengths, integrated solutions, and strong participation from authorities, businesses, and communities, Hanoi’s agriculture is well-positioned to become a standout in the city’s and nation’s socio-economic development.
Visitors watch a traditional pottery-making demonstration at Bat Trang craft village. (Photo: hanoimoi.vn)
Hanoi (VNA)💛 – Amid rapid urbanisation and shrinking agricultural land, Hanoi is leveraging its suburban advantage by developing agro-tourism tied to the preservation of traditional culture and the creation of a modern rural economy, aiming to diversify agricultural value, stimulate local growth, and ensure sustainable livelihoods for farmers.
Expanding agro-tourism opportunities
With vast, diverse, and culturally rich rural areas, Hanoi has identified community-based agro-tourism as a pillar of local economic growth. The approach helps restructure agriculture toward sustainability, attract investment, and generate jobs.
The city boasts over 1,000 craft villages and traditional handicraft communities - cultural and artisanal treasures with strong tourism potential. According to Nguyen Xuan Dai, Director of Hanoi’s Department of Agriculture and Environment, Hanoi aims to support brand-building and collective trademark certification for at least 100 craft villages by the end of 2025, with 64 already achieving this goal by 2024.
Hanoi’s “One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme further accelerates agro-tourism. Sixteen innovation and design centres dedicated to promoting OCOP and craft village products have been established, linking handicraft villages and farm products with tourism markets and offering effective distribution channels.
Successful models are drawing visitors, including Van An Cooperative, which combines clean agricultural production with school tours, an organic vineyard in Vinh Thanh that integrates farming with homestays, and Hong Van bonsai village, an OCOP tourism highlight that attracts more than 60,000 visitors annually.
These successes clearly demonstrate the potential and effectiveness of agro-tourism in Hanoi. Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang emphasised that rural tourism is a sustainable pathway, combining cultural and ecological values while attracting both domestic and international visitors.
Creating sustainable livelihoods
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen stressed that agro-tourism facilitates labour shifts, boosts incomes, attracts investment, and protects cultural heritage. He called for closer coordination between the agriculture and tourism sectors to establish value chains from production, processing, and OCOP products to services, with cooperatives and enterprises playing central roles.
Key priorities include linking OCOP products with agro-tourism tours, forming on-site consumption networks, and using digital tools to map destinations, design online tours, and enhance visitor experiences through QR codes, AR/VR, and e-commerce.
Tourists guided around Hong Van bonsai village – an OCOP tourist site in Hong Van commune (Photo: hanoimoi.vn)
Communities are encouraged to prioritise workforce training in hospitality, culinary arts, and homestay management, with a specific focus on empowering youth and women in rural areas to enhance service quality and promote sustainable livelihoods.
Regional connectivity and public-private partnerships are highlighted as critical to scaling up and diversifying offerings. Hanoi encourages themed tours tied to seasons, festivals, and specialities while strengthening links among travel agencies, cooperatives, and communities to form a robust agro-tourism ecosystem.
Experts recommend that Hanoi refine spatial planning for agriculture-tourism integration, prioritising ecological farming zones, cultural landscapes, and distinctive rural attractions. Nguyen Quang Dang, Chairman of the Vinh Thanh commune People’s Committee, emphasised the need for preferential loans and business-friendly administrative procedures to attract investment.
Agro-tourism is seen as a bridge between economic growth and cultural preservation. For Hanoi, it represents a strategic path toward building advanced rural areas and a green, smart, modern capital. With its strengths, integrated solutions, and strong participation from authorities, businesses, and communities, Hanoi’s agriculture is well-positioned to become a standout in the city’s and nation’s socio-economic development./.
Hanoi received around 2.08 million visitors during the four-day National Day holidays from August 30 to September 2, three times higher than the figure in the same period last year, the municipal Department of Tourism reported.
For the eight months of this year, the total number of visitors to Hanoi reached 21.58 million, up 13.9% year-on-year. Of the total, international tourist arrivals were 4.96 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.8%. Total revenue from tourism in the period hit an estimated 85.8 trillion VND, up 17.1%.
When tourists witness firsthand the passion and care of farmers, they’re willing to pay higher prices because they see the genuine worth behind every product.
Held on September 13-14, ManiFiesta – the annual festival of solidarity organised by the Workers' Party of Belgium – drew tens of thousands of participants from across Belgium and neighbouring countries. Alongside music, debates and cultural exchanges, Vietnam made a strong impression with a booth rich in national identity.
Vietnam’s top female badminton player Nguyen Thuy Linh, ranked 18th in the world, was unable to defend her title after losing 0-2 to Cai Yan Yan of China (world No. 107) in the women’s singles final of Yonex-Sunrise Vietnam Open 2025.
At Nhan Dan’s pavilion, visitors encountered a vivid chronicle of Vietnam’s milestones under the Communist Party of Vietnam and the late President Ho Chi Minh’s leadership, from the struggle for independence and reunification to modern development and global integration. Special publications marking Vietnam’s 80th National Day, coupled with performances by Vietnamese artists, intricate handicrafts, and fragrant dishes, had foreign visitors lining up in droves.
Vietnamese singer Duc Phuc will be among 23 artists from 23 countries participating in Intervision 2025, an international music competition often described as the “Eurovision of Eurasia", in Russia.
The event aims to promote solidarity among ethnic minorities, particularly the Cham people, in southern and south-central Vietnam, following the recent merger of provincial-level administrative units.
The animated feature Buffalo Kids, hitting Vietnamese theatres on September 12, is developed from the record-breaking short Strings (2024), which holds the Guinness World Record for the most awarded short film in history.
The national achievement exhibition, themed “80 Years of Independence – Freedom – Happiness,” is the largest of its kind held in Vietnam so far, bringing together 28 ministries and central agencies, 34 localities, 16 state-owned economic corporations, and 94 leading private enterprises.
Victory Vietnam by Swedish film director Bo Öhlén is a deeply moving and authentic documentary, officially premiered in April 2025 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification of Vietnam (April 30, 1975 – 2025).
The LION Championship 26 (LC26) will take place at Tay Ho Gymnasium in Hanoi on September 13, with the spotlight on the debut of World WBC Muay Thai Champion Truong Cao Minh Phat, who will square off against Irish fighter Aaron Clarke in the 61kg MMA Striking category.
The archives consist of administrative records, maps, and technical drawings from 1911–1955 left by French coal companies, along with images capturing coal mining, colonial architecture, miners’ lives, and the local community. These materials not only carry historical value but also offer vivid insights into Quang Ninh’s socio-economic landscape before 1955.
Vietnam’s rich cultural heritage and stunning landscapes are taking centre stage at the third photo exhibition “Vietnam Through the Lens of International Photographers”, which opened in Hue city on September 10.
The Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organisations (HUFO) hosted a screening of the film Mua do (Red Rain) on September 9 for members of the consular corps and Lao and Cambodian students studying in the city, a part of activities marking the 80th anniversary of National Day (September 2, 1945 – 2025),
With this victory, Vietnam finished at the top of Group C with nine points, officially securing a place in the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Finals, scheduled for January 2026.
On the opening day, Vietnam’s Vu Thi Trang played the first match for the host country, defeating Indonesia’s Aashi Rawat 2-1, marking an encouraging start for the home team.
The Cultural Day is expected to help further strengthen the Vietnam – RoK friendship while reaffirming Hue’s determination to expand international exchanges and assert its role as a cultural and tourism hub of the country.
Now in its second year, the event has grown into a dazzling cultural, culinary, and artistic extravaganza in the heart of London, celebrating the identity, diversity, and unity of the Southeast Asian region.
This year’s festival will offer audiences the chance to discover seven outstanding documentaries from seven foreign countries, along with 11 works from host Vietnam.
