The Moc Chau plum picking festival attracts a large number of tourists who come to experience it. Photo: PV

Potential from the largest fruit-growing region in Northern Vietnam.

After a long journey of implementing the policy of planting fruit trees on sloping land, Son La has transformed barren hillsides into vast expanses of lush fruit trees. The province currently has over 85,000 hectares of fruit trees, more than 91,000 hectares of industrial crops; over 24,300 hectares of coffee, becoming the largest Arabica coffee growing region in the country. In addition, over 6,000 hectares of concentrated tea plantations have created a green agricultural ecosystem, fostering and developing attractive ecotourism and experiential tourism.

Participating in a field survey on the development of agricultural and rural tourism in Son La, Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang Nhung, lecturer at the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture, assessed: Son La has great potential for developing agricultural tourism in all four seasons. In particular, we highly appreciate the large-scale, well-structured circular agriculture models that not only produce quality products but also meet the needs of tourists for sightseeing, experiencing, and purchasing safe agricultural products.

The value of Son La's agriculture lies not only in production volume; in recent years, the province has focused on quality and sustainable linkages among the "four stakeholders" (State - businesses - scientists - farmers). Agricultural cooperatives play a pivotal role in organizing production according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, and building brands. From there, concentrated production areas and production chains are formed, linked to the development of typical agricultural products, OCOP products, and exports. Successful models have attracted the attention of those wanting to learn about agriculture and are gradually becoming attractive destinations for tourists from near and far.

Plum Valley in Thao Nguyen Ward.

A prime example is Loi Tuoi Farm in Van Son ward. From a purely dairy farm, Loi Tuoi Farm has shifted towards developing a circular agricultural ecosystem to serve tourism. Mr. Nguyen Thach Tung Linh, Director of Loi Tuoi Agrico Co., Ltd., shared: "We cultivate organically, minimizing the use of chemicals, with a closed-loop process combining livestock farming and crop cultivation. This both protects the environment and creates a clean and healthy space for visitors."

Models like Loi Tuoi Farm have demonstrated a shift in farming methods from "chemical agriculture" to "green agriculture," creating an important foundation for the formation and development of ecotourism.

Visitors experience the circular farming model at Loi Tuoi Farm.

Integrating agriculture and tourism

At Moc Chau National Tourist Area, visitors can not only sightsee but also transform into farmers, experiencing strawberry and orange harvesting at VietGAP-certified orchards in Moc Chau and Van Son; visit the Na Ka and Mu Nau plum valleys during the season when the trees are covered in white blossoms or when the fruit is ripe; experience the dairy farming process at Dairy Farms, milk cows by hand, or pick tea on the lush green heart-shaped tea hills...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh, Director of Hoa Moc Chau Restaurant and Mocha Hill Tourist Area, said: "We aimed for a harmonious combination of agriculture and tourism when building the Mocha Hill Tourist Area. In particular, we focused on tea products from the Moc Chau plateau, helping visitors have meaningful experiences."

Leveraging its strength as the largest Arabica coffee growing region in the country, Phuc Sinh Son La Joint Stock Company, located in Chieng Mung commune, has launched the Phuc Sinh Mountain Hill experiential tourism model. Here, visitors can participate in the "From Farm to Cup" tour, exploring the entire coffee processing process, from planting, caring for, harvesting, and producing to brewing and enjoying the full, delicious flavor of Son La Arabica coffee.

Visitors experience coffee brewing at Phuc Sinh Mountain Hill.

Having had the opportunity to join a tour group at Phuc Sinh Mountain Hill, Ms. Tran Kim Van, a tourist from Hanoi, expressed: "I am a coffee lover. Therefore, Phuc Sinh Mountain Hill gave me a special feeling, both authentic and intimate, yet professional and sophisticated, from the way the tour was organized to the products that Phuc Sinh offered to its customers."

Besides tourist destinations, agricultural tourism services are being developed, and events associated with the flowering and fruiting seasons have become "specialties" of Son La, a land of four seasons of sweet fruits, attracting tourists. These include the plum harvesting festival, the tea harvesting festival, the mango festival, the longan festival, the hawthorn flower festival, the golden harvest festival, and the unique Dairy Cow Beauty Contest. Along with these are hundreds of OCOP products and typical agricultural products... All of these are creating a distinctive agricultural landscape of Son La, intertwined with the region's unique culture. Agricultural tourism is thus being shaped and developed into one of the five main types of tourism (including: ecotourism and agriculture; cultural and historical tourism; community tourism; resort, entertainment and health tourism; and thematic tourism).

Sustainable development direction

In 2025, Son La is expected to welcome 5.3 million tourists, generating approximately 6,300 billion VND in tourism revenue. This impressive figure marks a year of significant progress for tourism. This achievement is largely due to the attractiveness of Son La's unique and valuable agricultural sector, which is being developed and integrated with tourism in a progressively professional manner.

Tourists visit an orange orchard in Van Son ward.

The Resolution of the 16th Provincial Party Congress, for the 2025-2030 term, has set out nine key tasks, including restructuring the agricultural sector, developing high-tech agriculture, clean and organic agriculture, and developing tourism into a leading economic sector of the province.

Mr. Tran Xuan Viet, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, informed that the Department is advising the Provincial People's Committee on the development of a tourism development plan for Son La province for the period 2025-2030 with specific goals, tasks, and solutions. This plan aims to leverage the province's strengths in culture and distinctive agriculture to develop diverse, unique, and attractive tourism products; using culture and agriculture as the main foundation to build tourism types with Son La's own unique identity.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been focusing on developing agricultural and rural tourism based on advantages in fruit trees, coffee, tea, dairy farming, medicinal herbs, etc., forming high-tech agricultural tourism zones; combining the development of accommodation services at farms, homestays, and farmstays. At the same time, it is promoting the development of potential tourism products such as: trekking and hiking tourism; agricultural ecotourism, entertainment, conference and seminar tourism, sports tourism... Developing specialized tourism routes and destinations such as "Green agricultural experience tourism," "A day as a highland farmer"... The harmonious combination of cultural heritage preservation with high-tech agricultural development will create unique added values ​​and reduce seasonality in tourism.

A large number of locals and tourists came to watch the Moc Chau Dairy Cow Beauty Contest.

Developing green agriculture in conjunction with ecotourism is not only an inevitable trend but also a sustainable path for Son La to realize its aspiration for prosperity and build a strong and attractive tourism brand and image, in line with the message "Go to experience - Come to love".

Text and photos: Thanh Dao