Most international visitors treat Hai Phong as a place to pass through — a name on the road between Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. That, for a travel agent, is precisely the opportunity. Vietnam’s third-largest city is quietly becoming one of the most dynamic places in the country: a booming industrial port posting double-digit growth, a handsome colonial core, a genuinely distinctive food scene, and the most direct gateway to Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay. If you’re looking to add depth — or a fresh angle — to a northern Vietnam itinerary, Hai Phong is a story worth knowing.
| ~13% 2026 GRDP growth target — a 12th straight double-digit year | $3.8–4.3bn Foreign investment targeted in 2026 | 16 million Tourist arrivals targeted for 2026 (+11.4%) | 1.5 hrs From Hanoi by the new expressway |
A City on a Tear: The Commercial Engine
Hai Phong’s numbers are striking. The city is targeting around 13% GRDP growth in 2026 — which would mark its twelfth consecutive year of double-digit expansion. It grew 11.81% in 2025, the second-fastest rate in the country. Each year it pulls in billions in foreign investment, and global manufacturers such as LG, Bridgestone and Pegatron run major operations here. Underpinning it all is Lach Huyen, the deep-water port complex handling a large share of northern Vietnam’s trade, alongside a string of new industrial parks and economic zones. A 2025 administrative reorganisation that expanded the city’s boundaries gave it even more room to grow.
Why does this matter to a travel agent? Because infrastructure follows investment. The Hanoi–Hai Phong expressway now puts the city about 90 minutes from the capital, Cat Bi International Airport connects it to Saigon and Da Nang, and new hotels, resorts and transport links are opening at pace. A fast-growing economy is quietly building the access and comfort that make a destination easy to sell.
The Gateway to Cat Ba and Lan Ha Bay
Here’s the part your clients will care about most. Hai Phong is the most direct gateway to Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay — and in our experience, it’s the smartest way into the famous limestone seascape. While most tour buses funnel into the crowded Ha Long cruise terminal, VietOne’s itineraries drive to Hai Phong and take a speedboat straight to Cat Ba, sitting in the heart of the bay itself.
The payoff is real. In 2023, UNESCO inscribed the Ha Long Bay–Cat Ba Archipelago as a World Natural Heritage Site — Vietnam’s first inter-provincial listing. Lan Ha Bay, just south of Ha Long proper, has roughly 300 karst islands, far fewer boats, and more swimmable coves. Add Cat Ba National Park, sea caves, kayaking and floating fishing villages, and you get the iconic Ha Long photo without the famous Ha Long queue. We make the full case in our best beaches in Vietnam guide.
| AGENT INSIGHT Cat Ba is developing fast — a new cable car, resorts and a creative night market have all arrived, and parts of Cat Ba Town are an active construction site. For discerning clients, lead with the boat-based Lan Ha Bay experience: the wilderness remains spectacular, and a junk cruise or sunset kayak keeps them on the pristine side of the story. |
Beaches, Colonial Streets and the City Itself
Hai Phong rewards a day in its own right. Do Son, a peninsula about 20 km from the centre, is the classic local beach escape, complete with the 1896 Hon Dau lighthouse and its French-era architecture. In town, a graceful colonial quarter centres on the Opera House and the leafy streets around Dien Bien Phu and Tran Hung Dao — easy, photogenic walking. Add Du Hang Pagoda, Tam Bac Lake and the bustling Cho Sat market for a relaxed urban half-day. Time it for May or June and the city earns its nickname, the “City of Red Flamboyant Flowers,” when the flame trees blaze red across every boulevard.
A Food City Unlike Any Other
If you sell one thing about Hai Phong to a foodie client, sell the food. Sitting on the Gulf of Tonkin, the city eats bolder and more seafood-forward than Hanoi, and several of its dishes exist nowhere else. The signature is bánh đa cua — a rich brown-red crab noodle soup locals are fiercely proud of. Then there’s nem cua bể, square-cut crab spring rolls fried golden; bánh mì cay, the slim “spicy baguette” snack the city invented; and bún cá cay, a punchy fish noodle soup. A simple street-food crawl is one of the most authentic experiences in northern Vietnam — and a brilliant differentiator for a culinary itinerary.
“Hai Phong is the city most tourists skip — which is exactly why it rewards the ones who don’t.”
Where It’s Going — and How to Sell It
The trajectory is clear. Hai Phong welcomed roughly six million visitors in the first five months of 2026 alone, and is aiming for sixteen million across the year. The official plan is to develop Cat Ba into an international-class eco-tourism and island-resort centre, and a new sea route now links Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay directly. For agents, the message is simple: this is a destination on the way up, with rising capacity and falling friction.
The easiest way to use it today is as the gateway it already is. Build Cat Ba and Lan Ha into a northern loop via Hai Phong — exactly what we do on the Vietnam Insider Journey, walked through day by day in our 15-day Vietnam itinerary. For shorter trips, a Ha Long day cruise or a multi-day beach programme can be anchored from the region — browse the full VietOne package list. And for couples, the bay at dawn is one of the most romantic mornings in Vietnam, as we cover in our Vietnam honeymoon guide.
| AGENT INSIGHT Practical notes for 2026: Hai Phong is about 1.5 hours from Hanoi by expressway and served by Cat Bi International Airport. Best weather is March–April and September–November. For Cat Ba and Lan Ha, lock accommodation early in peak summer, when domestic demand surges and the best boats and resorts fill fast. |
Plan it with VietOne
Thinking about adding Hai Phong, Cat Ba or Lan Ha Bay to a 2026 programme? VietOne has run northern Vietnam itineraries for 33 years and quotes B2B in €. Talk to our Saigon team — we reply within 24 hours in English, German or Russian.
