Cao Phong district develops orange orchard tourism

Since the first Cao Phong Orange Festival was held successfully, Cao Phong orange brand has gained a firm foothold in the market. With its typical flavour and quality farming, the specialty fruit of Muong Thang land has become popular, meaning that more and more tourists seek to visit orange orchards, opening up a new orientation to local ecotourism.

During the harvest season, it is easy to see ripe and fruitful orange trees along a road from Hoa Binh city to Cao Phong, starting from the top of Cun slope in Thu Phong commune to the centre of Cao Phong town. Standing in the midst of a ripe orange garden, enjoying the pleasant orange scent and fresh air, picking up and enjoying sweet and succulent orange pieces are really an interesting experience luring visitors to Cao Phong.

Though newly-launched, orange orchard tourism has initially brought about positive results. Not only strengthening consumers’ trust in Cao Phong oranges and ensuring consumption, the experience has attracted a number of visitors, contributing to increasing local income. Along a road running through the centre of the town to the district, orchards like Thuy Nga (zone 4, Cao Phong town), Thanh Loan (zone 2, Cao Phong town) and Ms Sen are crowded thanks to hospitality of the owners. Consumers also feel secure when buying oranges here because they are grown up to VietGAP standards.

Bui Tien Dung, head of the district Office of Culture and Information, said that the total citrus cultivation area in the locality now nears 2,100 ha with an annual output of over 23,000 tonnes, bringing in a revenue of upwards 700 million VND per hectare. Visiting orchards, visitors will have a chance to see farming process first-hand and enjoy "standard” products instead of bad quality ones under the guise of Cao Phong trademark. The number of vacationers has increased over years. In the first half of this year, tourist arrivals was estimated at over 220,700, generating a revenue of more than 15.8 trillion VND.