Hanoi’s appeal boosted with flower tourism spots

Since mid-February, in gentle spring rain and bitter cold spells, many streets in Hanoi have blossomed out with colorful flowers and become attractive destinations for locals and tourists.

These days, Park City Urban Area in Ha Dong District pulls in thousands of Hanoians and tourists for photo taking with yellow flowers. A specific road in the urban area, nearly one kilometer in length, is lined with four rows of yellow tabebuia trees, which are all in full bloom and bringing about a brilliant yellow scene.

Dam Hai Van, a resident of the area says that as soon as she heard the yellow tabebuia flower road here was blossoming beautifully, she invited her friends to visit her own home and admire the miracle flowers as well as taking some pictures.

“It is said that this yellow tabebuia road here is the longest one in Hanoi, which, when blossoming out, is as lovely as the bright yellow autumn in South Korea. In the slightly rainy and foggy spring atmosphere, everyone can easily get beautiful pictures with friends and family”, Hai Van told The Hanoi Times.

The yellow tabebuia tree is also known as the golden bell tree or silver trumpet tree. Its flowers usually bloom from the end of February, forming large clusters of dozens of flowers, each having five bright yellow petals. This is a woody plant, whose trunk is cylindrical and two to eight-meter high, with a diameter of 15cm.

Introduced to Vietnam in the 2000s, yellow tabebuia trees quickly became popular because of their suitable growth characteristics, bringing charming green spaces.

It comes as no surprise that in recent years, the yellow tabebuia road in Park City Urban Area has become a very magnetic check-in spot for Hanoians. Similar to their golden cousins, purple tabebuia or purple trumpet trees are also planted in some urban areas in the city, which have been hotspots sought after by young visitors.

To facilitate locals and tourists’ photo-taking, the management units of urban areas do not charge entrance fees, but they still remind visitors to preserve the landscape and environment when snapping pictures with the flowers.

Apart from tabebuia flowers, from mid-February, purple bauhinia flowers and white sua (dalbergia tonkinensis) flowers around Hanoi have come into season and won countless admirers’ hearts. Various roads in the city and urban areas are lined with only bauhinia trees, creating romantic scenes in spring. Bac Son Street, Hoang Dieu Street (near the historic Ba Dinh Square), Thanh Nien Street, Thong Nhat Park or Ciputra Hanoi Urban Area are some notable examples.

Meanwhile, to enjoy the Hanoi specialty of white sua flowers, tourists can head to the Diplomatic Corps Urban Area, Dang Van Ngu Street, Phan Dinh Phung Street, or Hang Dau Flower Garden.

Last weekend, Nguyen Hong Lan (Ho Chi Minh City) and her family traveled to Hanoi to visit relatives. By the way, they roamed around the capital and got photos with pretty bauhinia flowers on Hoang Dieu Street. “Hanoi has many beautiful floral seasons that can be experienced all year round. This is a great advantage to attract tourists,” remarks Lan.

According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, in tourism promotion activities in the past years, the Department has always given prominence to the development of flower tourism products, in order to create more appealing highlights for the city.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang states that the capital has gradually affirmed the brand “Hanoi - 12 floral seasons”, which is great potential for increasing the attractiveness of local tourism. The Department also encourages travel agencies to promote the charm of Hanoi through flower-related products. In addition, localities with floricultural advantages are welcome to further the planting of seasonal flowers, so as to turn into attractive destinations and increase revenue from these products.

In enhancing the appeal of flower tourism in Hanoi, Vice President of the Capital Tourism Club Nguyen Tien Dat suggests that to develop flower tourism and generate revenue from this type of tourism, on top of creating spaces for photo taking and check-in, it is important that Hanoi have more products associated with flowers such as foods or souvenirs.

According to Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Travel Association Phung Quang Thang, with edaphic and climatic advantages, Hanoi is able to create its flower tourism appeal that is not inferior to the red-leaf, yellow-leaf and cherry blossom seasons in Japan and South Korea. However, for local flowers to become tourism products, it is necessary that Hanoi conduct urban planning in parallel with green tree planning, organize suitable tree and flower planting to create green spaces that both protect the environment and serve as destinations to draw tourists.