Agricultural tourism: Strategy for distinctive rural identity

Amid the strong global shift toward green, sustainable, experience-based, and community-linked tourism, agricultural tourism has emerged as an important development trend in many countries.

For Viet Nam, with a long-standing agricultural civilization, rich rural resources, and diverse cultural ecosystems, agricultural tourism is not only a supplementary form of tourism but is gradually becoming an important foundation within the national tourism ecosystem.

This sector has the potential to simultaneously connect multiple goals: local economic development, cultural preservation, new rural development, livelihood creation for local communities, and sustainable tourism growth.

Providing core resources for various tourism models

Agricultural tourism includes activities such as visiting farms and craft villages; experiencing cultivation and harvesting; staying at farm-based accommodations; enjoying local cuisine; exploring rural culture and indigenous knowledge; and participating in environmental education and life skills training for children.

Meanwhile, a tourism ecosystem is a network consisting of resources, communities, businesses, tourists, authorities, infrastructure, supporting services, technology, and culture that interact to create sustainable tourism value. Within this ecosystem, each component is both independent and interdependent, forming a comprehensive experience for visitors.

Agricultural tourism is considered a foundational element because it provides core resources for many tourism models, helps shape Viet Nam’s cultural identity, maintains rural landscapes, preserves local communities, supplies OCOP products, cuisine, and craft village experiences, and creates linkages between agriculture, culture, tourism, and trade.

In other words, without vibrant rural areas, many forms of tourism in Viet Nam would lose their local “soul.”

Five stages of agricultural tourism development

Agricultural tourism is no longer viewed as a standalone product but as an integrated rural development ecosystem, where agriculture serves as the foundation, tourism acts as a value-added driver, and technology, education, culture, and community serve as connecting and diffusing elements.

From an ecosystem perspective, agricultural tourism products typically evolve through five stages:

Pre-ecosystem stage: individual farm visits

Commercial check-in stage: flower fields and photo farms

Community experience stage: homestays and craft villages

Ecosystem stage: integration of wellness, education, OCOP, and community-based models

International destination stage: formation of strong national brands

Viet Nam is currently assessed to be between stages 2 and 3, with some localities beginning to approach stage 4.

This indicates that Viet Nam’s agricultural tourism has not yet reached maturity, as it still lacks a clear national brand comparable to Italy’s agriturismo, Japan’s satoyama, or South Korea’s healing villages.

Viet Nam currently does not yet have a clearly defined international identity for agricultural tourism. The added value of many agricultural tourism models remains low. Most visitors stay for short periods, spending levels are not high, and return rates remain limited.

Linkages between OCOP products, accommodation, logistics, booking services, and experiential activities are still fragmented. Viet Nam also lacks strong international operators, a national farmstay brand, a professional agricultural tourism network, and a dedicated digital platform. In addition, many risks continue to discourage businesses from investing in this sector.

The dual-risk challenge

Agricultural tourism in Viet Nam has strong potential but is also considered a dual-risk sector because it is simultaneously influenced by tourism, agriculture, local communities, natural environments, and land-use policies.

Without proper risk identification, businesses can easily spread investments too thin, struggle to recover capital, lose local identity, face community conflicts, or fail after only a few peak seasons. Key risk categories include legal and land issues, market risks, financial risks, socio-community factors, environmental and climate risks, operational risks, technology and communications risks, and strategic risks.

In Viet Nam, infrastructure in rural areas remains uneven, with some regions experiencing unreliable electricity and water supplies, weak internet connectivity, and limited transportation access.

Regional connectivity is also weak, as many destinations operate independently without integrated tour routes. In addition, cross-sector policies across agriculture, tourism, land, environment, and construction remain not fully synchronized.

Success comes from local identity

According to many experts, long-term successful businesses are often those that grow slowly, operate with authenticity, and remain closely connected to local communities.

The first recommendation is: “do not start with construction, start with identity.” Local communities should be treated as partners rather than just a labor source. Models should begin small and focus on doing things right before scaling up. Over-investment at the early stage, scattered development, or heavy borrowing without an established market can easily create significant financial pressure.

Another key principle is shifting the focus from “check-in spots” to lived experiences. Current trends show that tourists do not just want to visit and observe, but want to participate, interact, feel, and live like locals. Therefore, tourism products must include hands-on activities, storytelling elements, cultural depth, and personal emotional engagement.

In addition, businesses need to clearly define target customer segments instead of designing “one-size-fits-all” products. Different groups such as families, urban children, international tourists, and high-end travelers, require different experiences and communication approaches.

The golden moment for agricultural tourism

Although Viet Nam has not yet reached a mature stage, it is widely regarded as being at a golden moment as global demand increasingly favors authentic local experiences, restorative retreats, slow living, and community-based tourism.

In other words, Viet Nam already has the ecosystem ingredients, emerging agricultural tourism clusters, and existing market demand, but still lacks a complete ecosystem architecture, coordination capacity, and a unified national brand. If developed in the right direction, agricultural tourism could fully become a signature national tourism product within the next 5-10 years.

Viet Nam cannot compete in large-scale entertainment tourism like Singapore, China, or the United Arab Emirates, but it has a distinct advantage in tropical rural landscapes, local culture, cuisine, and authenticity. This represents the strategic opportunities for Vietnamese tourism.

According to many experts, the most important factor is not creating more attractions, but selecting the right “anchor products” to drive the ecosystem. From both international experience and Viet Nam’s conditions, there are five product groups with the strongest potential to lead development.

Agricultural mental wellness tourism is considered the number-one strategic product because it integrates accommodation, nature, clean food, healing, slow living, and agricultural experiences. This model is particularly suitable for international tourists, urban residents, families, and the middle class. A well-developed cooperative can further attract activities such as yoga, tea ceremonies, hiking, workshops, OCOP product experiences, herbal spa services, and processed agricultural products.

Educational tourism is regarded as a very strong domestic growth driver because Vietnamese parents are willing to spend on educational experiences for their children. This model can operate year-round, provides stable visitor flows, and is less dependent on international tourism seasons. Its products can combine STEM learning, environmental education, life skills, agriculture, and biology.

The global trend of mental “healing,” digital detox, and reconnecting with nature is growing rapidly. Viet Nam is particularly well positioned for this segment, especially in the Northwest, Central Highlands, tea-growing regions, and medicinal herb areas. Experiences such as tea meditation, herbal baths, yoga in tea hills, or organic dining have strong appeal for tourists from South Korea, Japan, and Europe.

Agricultural gastronomy is also a major advantage for Viet Nam thanks to its high-quality ingredients, diverse regional cuisine, and rich food culture. However, many current products remain too raw in presentation. The solution is to upgrade them into cooking classes, culinary experiences, farm-to-table dinners, seasonal tasting menus, as well as tea and coffee appreciation programs.

The need for a distinctive identity for agricultural tourism

If one strategic product must be chosen for Viet Nam at this stage, mental wellness tourism linked with community-based experiences is considered the most suitable option, as it generates higher revenue, connects naturally with agriculture, aligns with global trends, and helps preserve local landscapes.

Such models are not competitive, quickly become saturated, degrade landscapes, and generate low value. To develop rapidly and sustainably, Viet Nam needs a flagship identity similar to Italy’s agriturismo, Japan’s satoyama experience, or South Korea’s healing villages.

If implemented effectively, Viet Nam could position itself as a “Tropical Living Agriculture Experience” or a “Wellness & Living Countryside Destination.” This is a genuine, hard-to-replicate advantage that aligns strongly with current global trends.

The “slow village” model, along with the trend of workation (combining work and travel), is increasingly seen as a highly promising direction for the future. Rather than newly built tourism complexes, “slow villages” are developed from authentic rural spaces, integrating farmstay accommodation, traditional craft activities, wellness services, cafés, art spaces, co-working environments, and restorative retreat programs focused on mental and physical well-being.