Since the beginning of the year, Quang Ninh's tourism has continued to make strong impressions by organizing a series of large-scale cultural, sports, and tourism activities. Moving beyond merely seasonal events, the synchronized series of programs has created a widespread ripple effect, attracting a vast number of domestic and international tourists, and contributing to the sector's impressive growth right from the early months of the year.
In just the first 4 months of the year, the entire province successfully organized 140 tourism stimulus, promotion, and marketing events and activities; including 10 national and provincial-level events and 130 programs across communes, wards, and special zones. Notably, Quang Ninh is no longer developing events in isolation, but is gradually building a tourism - culture - entertainment ecosystem model linked with modern performance technologies and the night-time economy. The province is also the first in the country to implement a large-scale series of events synchronously integrating cultural industries, experiential tourism, and commercial-service activities. This has generated a strong ripple effect, both promoting the destination's image and stimulating consumer spending and service economic growth.
A highlight among early-year activities was the Yen Tu Spring Festival 2026 - the first festival season after Yen Tu was inscribed as a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO. This is not only a major national spiritual event but also an important milestone in turning heritage values into a driving force for sustainable tourism development. The opening ceremony took place on February 26 with the participation of over 5,000 delegates, monks, nuns, Buddhist followers, locals, and tourists. Alongside traditional rituals, the Yen Tu Spring Festival 2026 also left its mark through an array of the largest-scale activities to date, such as: the special art performance program “Sacred Yen Tu - Millennial Spirit” accommodating 10,000 people; fairs, exhibitions, cultural display spaces, and OCOP products... Thereby contributing to spreading heritage values while enriching visitors' experiences.
One of the key factors creating the powerful appeal of this year's festival season was the province's decisive stimulus policy. Offering free admission, free electric shuttle carts, and free parking during the Yen Tu Tourism Year created positive momentum, driving an explosive surge in visitor numbers. In just the first 4 months of the year, Yen Tu welcomed more than 1 million visitors, doubling the figure compared to the same period in 2025 and achieving its full-year 2026 target ahead of schedule. Revenue from the Yen Tu Spring Festival was estimated at around 2,500 billion VND - a figure demonstrating the powerful resonance of cultural and spiritual tourism when invested in the right direction.
Entering the peak summer travel season, Quang Ninh hosted the 2026 Summer Welcoming Culture, Sports, and Tourism Week - an event showcasing the province's dynamic transformation in developing event tourism, entertainment, and the night-time economy. Since late March, the summer welcoming series of activities has generated massive media impact, with hundreds of articles across central and local press agencies; 80 million views and interactions on digital platforms; and over 4 million views on VTV broadcasts alone. The appeal of the 2026 Summer Welcoming Culture, Sports, and Tourism Week of Quang Ninh Province brought in an impressive tourism revenue, estimated at 4,165 billion VND.
The most prominent highlight was the opening art performance of Ha Long Carnaval 2026 under the theme “Wonders Shined in the New Era.” Far more than an ordinary street carnival, this year's edition was evaluated as one of the grandest and most impressive carnivals to date. The fusion of traditional arts with modern performance technology, and of heritage spaces with light and music, demonstrated Quang Ninh's innovative mindset in curating experiential tourism products.
In addition to major artistic programs, many fringe activities also recorded positive outcomes. Ha Long International Food Street, featuring the “54 train cars” culinary model, attracted approximately 42,000 visitors, with estimated revenue reaching 5 billion VND. The Quang Ninh OCOP Fair - Summer 2026, comprising 240 booths introducing more than 1,200 signature products from Quang Ninh and localities nationwide, also attracted over 58,000 visitors, generating revenue of over 22 billion VND.
Parallel to provincial-organized programs, many tourism and service businesses proactively invested in large-scale entertainment offerings, such as: the Vuifest commercial street, the “Red Sails” fireworks show, the Halo Bay show, street art performances, and more. Through these, a diverse experiential ecosystem has taken shape, elevating the appeal of night-time tourism.
The effectiveness of this series of events has been vividly reflected in tourism growth indicators. Since the beginning of the year, Quang Ninh has welcomed around 8.2 million visitors, up 8% over the same period in 2025; total tourism revenue reached 21,639 billion VND, an 18% increase year-on-year. During the Hung Kings Commemoration Day and April 30 - May 1 holiday alone, the whole province welcomed over 1.3 million visitors, with tourism revenue reaching 4,165 billion VND, up 33% compared to the same period in 2025. Room occupancy across accommodation facilities from April 25 to May 2 reached 90-95%, underscoring the high demand in the summer tourism market.
According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Quang Ninh will continue to focus on promoting the values of the Yen Tu World Cultural Heritage site in conjunction with developing cultural, spiritual, ecological, and experiential tourism; while elevating the organizational quality of cultural, sports, and tourism activities toward professionalism, modernity, and distinct identity. The province will also concentrate on building signature products tied to Ha Long Carnaval, Ha Long Bay, Yen Tu, gastronomy, OCOP, and street arts; encouraging localities and businesses to develop further high-quality entertainment products to boost the night-time economy and cultural industries…
