Bringing Ba Be Lake tourism to a new era

A corner of Ba Be Lake.

Great potential, deep impression

As a green gem in the middle of the vast wilderness in the Northeast, Ba Be Lake has long been famous for its beautiful scenery, diverse ecosystem and unique geological value. Not only is it a symbol of tourism in Bac Kan province in the past, Ba Be is also recognized as an ASEAN Natural Heritage, the largest natural freshwater lake in Vietnam. Ba Be Lake belongs to Ba Be National Park (NP), one of the first 20 NPs in the country.

The total area for ecotourism , resort and entertainment activities in Ba Be National Park is more than 3,593 hectares, of which the area used for construction of tourism facilities is 61.25 hectares.

The lake has an area of nearly 500 hectares, is more than 8km long, and is surrounded by primeval forests, waterfalls, caves and majestic limestone mountains. This place is not only beautiful in terms of landscape but also valuable in terms of ecology and biodiversity.

This place also converges many unique elements of intangible culture, culinary culture and indigenous traditions imbued with the identity of the Tay, Nung, Dao, Mong ethnic groups... The system of rare flora and fauna, including many endemic species, is listed in the Red Book of Vietnam and the world .

The potential strengths of Ba Be National Park are such, but this place has not been exploited properly for economic development, attracting tourists is still limited and the unique cultural values of local ethnic minorities have not been promoted properly.

Therefore, in early 2025, the People's Committee of Bac Kan province (old) issued Decision No. 64/QD-UBND, dated January 16, 2025, approving the Project on eco-tourism, resort and entertainment in Ba Be National Park for the period 2021-2030.

The goal is to concretize the "Sustainable forest management plan for Ba Be National Park, period 2021-2030", ensuring the management, protection and promotion of potential values of natural landscapes, historical, cultural, scientific and aesthetic values of Ba Be National Park, Ba Be Lake scenic spot; create jobs, increase income, improve material and spiritual life for local people; serve as a basis to attract and call for investment in developing ecotourism, resorts and entertainment in special-use forests according to the provisions of Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP dated November 16, 2018 of the Government.

Dugout canoe racing on Ba Be Lake.

Mr. Trieu The Khoi, Director of Ba Be National Park Management Board, shared: Based on the directive documents from the superiors, the unit is gradually implementing according to the roadmap and plan to exploit and promote the natural potential values of landscape, environment and cultural diversity, historical relics; build various types of tourism products, routes, and points for organizing eco-tourism, resorts, and entertainment in the Ba Be National Park area. Create conditions for people and local communities living near the forest to participate in tourism activities, thereby contributing to the development of the local economy. Create a legal basis to attract domestic and foreign businesses and investors...

The goal of Ba Be National Park is to attract about 8 investment projects to rent forest environment by 2030; attract 450,000 tourists/year, of which international visitors account for 20%; attract tourists to stay in the area for about 3 days or more; create regular jobs for about 2,000 workers; tourist spots and tourist routes ensure regulations on environmental protection and nature conservation.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Du, former Secretary of Bac Kan Provincial Party Committee: Currently, Ba Be National Park has invested in infrastructure to meet the needs of tourism development, in which the most prominent is the road connecting Bac Kan ward to the lake with a distance of just over 40km; the road around the lake has also been upgraded and expanded for tourists and locals to travel conveniently. Tourist attractions and resorts have been invested in infrastructure, accommodation has been upgraded in service quality... If the leaders of Thai Nguyen province pay more attention to appropriate mechanisms and policies, invest strongly enough and have a long-term vision, Ba Be Lake tourism will have a new step of sustainable development.

Bamboo dance is one of the art performances often performed at major events held in the Ba Be Lake area.

Looking straight at challenges, aiming for sustainable development

Despite its great potential, Ba Be Lake tourism has not developed commensurately. Tourism services are still fragmented and poor; products lack diversity, technical infrastructure is still lacking, and connections with major tourist centers are not yet good. Many resources have not been effectively exploited, and conservation and development work is still unbalanced…

The current challenge is how to develop Ba Be without destroying the original ecosystem, ensuring livelihoods for local people while preserving the environment and indigenous culture.

Therefore, to bring Ba Be Lake to new heights, a synchronous, long-term development strategy is needed, with some key solutions such as: Planning and managing sustainable tourism development. Linking tourism planning with ecological and cultural conservation. Limiting mass development, focusing on building high-quality highlights.

Hua Ma Cave - one of the tourist attractions with beautiful scenery in Ba Be Lake.

Develop unique tourism products such as eco-tours, village experiences with local people, kayaking on Ba Be Lake, experiences in primeval forests... Connect Ba Be Lake tourism with ATK Dinh Hoa, Na Hang Lake (Tuyen Quang), creating a chain of inter-provincial tourism products.

In particular, in the new era, to promote the potential strengths of Ba Be Lake, the Ba Be National Park Management Board as well as local authorities need to further strengthen the management of land, construction, environment, and promote the application of digital transformation in tourism management and promotion.

Digitize destinations, provide smart travel guides, promote communication on mass media and many social networking platforms, cooperate and link diversely with domestic and foreign organizations to bring the image of Ba Be to the world.

Proactively and advise competent authorities to build appropriate infrastructure works to serve tourism in order to exploit the natural landscape of forest resources according to the principle: "Do not change the natural landscape; do not cause negative impacts on terrestrial and aquatic animal and plant resources; do not reduce biodiversity; do not pollute the environment".

The famous fragrant green squash specialty of Ba Be commune is one of the tourist products.

Along with that, supporting people to do community tourism requires systematic coordination, training in service skills, homestay management, tourism communication for local people. Support building OCOP product brands associated with tourism such as Ba Be sour shrimp paste, leaf-fermented wine, brocade scarves, handmade souvenirs, etc.

It is believed that Ba Be Lake will soon have a master plan for tourism development associated with nature conservation. On that basis, a coordination mechanism will be built between the National Park, local authorities and the community to jointly manage sustainable resources; create a chain of tourism products for ecological experiences - indigenous culture - nature exploration...

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/du-lich-thai-nguyen/202507/dua-du-lich-ho-ba-be-vuon-tam-trong-ky-nguyen-moi-b580a83/