ADDING “FLAVOR” TO QUANG TRI TOURISM
- Thursday - 19/03/2026 22:31
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Tourism destinations are not defined only by landscapes but also by their local values. In Quảng Trị, the Khe Sanh Plateau is facing a similar opportunity as its coffee beans begin to be developed into a tourism experience, allowing visitors to touch, listen, taste, and understand the culture of this land.
At the end of 2025, initial connections between the Khe Sanh Coffee Association and tourism businesses under the Quảng Trị Tourism Association were expected to create important starting points for cooperation, opening a new direction for both sectors and adding a distinctive “flavor” to local tourism.
In August 2025, Khe Sanh coffee products were selected as souvenirs for the Indian film crew of the SILAA project. This marked an important starting point, leading to field trips by tourism businesses to the coffee-growing region to observe the cultivation environment, production process, and the potential for developing coffee-related tourism experiences.
Tourism businesses explored what stories Khe Sanh coffee could tell, while coffee producers saw opportunities to promote their products and expand their markets. From these initial surveys, the Khe Sanh Coffee Association and tourism enterprises in Quảng Trị began implementing cooperation activities and introducing coffee products at tourism destinations such as Đồng Hới Ward and Phong Nha Commune.
Khe Sanh coffee products have gradually appeared at several tourism service locations, accompanying travelers on longer journeys and beginning to move beyond the local market to reach larger tourism markets in the region. Visitors joining experiential tours organized by companies such as Oxalis Co., Ltd. and Samuer Co., Ltd. have had the opportunity to enjoy Khe Sanh coffee in pristine natural settings, adding emotional depth to their exploration experiences.
In August 2025, Khe Sanh coffee products were selected as souvenirs for the Indian film crew of the SILAA project. This marked an important starting point, leading to field trips by tourism businesses to the coffee-growing region to observe the cultivation environment, production process, and the potential for developing coffee-related tourism experiences.
Tourism businesses explored what stories Khe Sanh coffee could tell, while coffee producers saw opportunities to promote their products and expand their markets. From these initial surveys, the Khe Sanh Coffee Association and tourism enterprises in Quảng Trị began implementing cooperation activities and introducing coffee products at tourism destinations such as Đồng Hới Ward and Phong Nha Commune.
Khe Sanh coffee products have gradually appeared at several tourism service locations, accompanying travelers on longer journeys and beginning to move beyond the local market to reach larger tourism markets in the region. Visitors joining experiential tours organized by companies such as Oxalis Co., Ltd. and Samuer Co., Ltd. have had the opportunity to enjoy Khe Sanh coffee in pristine natural settings, adding emotional depth to their exploration experiences.
Visitors participating in experiential tours by Oxalis Co., Ltd. enjoy Khe Sanh coffee in a pristine natural environment – Photo: Oxalis Adventure
According to Trần Thái Thiên, Chairman of the Khe Sanh Coffee Association, the association has submitted a proposal to the provincial Tourism Promotion Center seeking approval to cooperate in managing and operating a service space at the Tourist Information and Support Center in Phong Nha – Kẻ Bàng. The core objective is not merely to sell coffee but to build a professional and modern experience space for coffee, agricultural products, and tourism, associated with the image of Quảng Trị as a friendly and sustainable destination.
At the Tourist Information and Support Center in Phong Nha – Kẻ Bàng, Khe Sanh coffee will not stand alone but will be integrated into a broader story about local agriculture, typical OCOP products, and community-based or agricultural tourism tours. This approach reflects a new mindset of bringing local agricultural products closer to visitors rather than waiting for tourists to travel to production areas.
It also represents a shift from selling products to selling experiences. The coffee experience space will serve as a hub for tourism information, tour introductions, and local product promotion while also applying digital technologies to help visitors search for information and book services—an approach consistent with modern tourism trends.
According to Thiên, what Khe Sanh coffee currently lacks is not quality but a storytelling space and a supportive ecosystem. Khe Sanh coffee already has a geographical indication, five-star OCOP products, and various awards, but if it remains limited to production and retail sales, its added value will remain modest. Tourism is considered the most effective pathway to bring the coffee bean closer to consumers.
Entering the tourism sector will allow Khe Sanh coffee to expand its market, while tourism enterprises and cooperatives will also benefit from the partnership. With its stories of climate, soil conditions, history, and people, Khe Sanh coffee represents a rich source of local content that tourism businesses can use to design tours, create experiences, and develop souvenirs and related services.
More importantly, such cooperation helps Quảng Trị tourism avoid similarities between destinations and create distinctive identity. The purpose of cooperation is not to replace one another’s roles but to enable each side to perform better within a shared narrative.
As one of the pioneers introducing Khe Sanh coffee to tourists participating in tour programs, Trần Xuân Cương, Director of Samuer Co., Ltd., believes that the story behind Khe Sanh coffee is rich enough to become a compelling experiential tourism product. For tourism businesses, it is not simply a souvenir but a valuable narrative element that enhances tour value and creates emotional impressions for visitors. When travelers take home a package of coffee and enjoy its distinctive flavor, they also carry memories of the land they have visited.
Strengthening the connection between tourism enterprises and Khe Sanh coffee will help transform this regional specialty from a simple consumption product into a distinctive tourism souvenir associated with the destination’s identity.
According to Thiên, the Khe Sanh Coffee Association aims for coffee products to be present in about 30 percent of restaurants, hotels, and tourism sites across Quảng Trị by 2026. When Khe Sanh coffee becomes a familiar choice for visitors during their journeys to Quảng Trị, the brand’s reach will increase significantly, not only domestically but also internationally, especially through tour routes that attract foreign tourists.
However, turning this vision into reality will require strong policy support, effective coordination among sectors, and practical operational capacity. As Quảng Trị tourism seeks new drivers for growth, Khe Sanh coffee has the potential to become a “soft ambassador,” bringing the image of this land closer to visitors from both within Vietnam and around the world. In that moment, each cup of coffee will not only carry its familiar bittersweet flavor but will also tell a longer story about Khe Sanh, about Quảng Trị, and about how a land can develop tourism through its authentic local values.
At the Tourist Information and Support Center in Phong Nha – Kẻ Bàng, Khe Sanh coffee will not stand alone but will be integrated into a broader story about local agriculture, typical OCOP products, and community-based or agricultural tourism tours. This approach reflects a new mindset of bringing local agricultural products closer to visitors rather than waiting for tourists to travel to production areas.
It also represents a shift from selling products to selling experiences. The coffee experience space will serve as a hub for tourism information, tour introductions, and local product promotion while also applying digital technologies to help visitors search for information and book services—an approach consistent with modern tourism trends.
According to Thiên, what Khe Sanh coffee currently lacks is not quality but a storytelling space and a supportive ecosystem. Khe Sanh coffee already has a geographical indication, five-star OCOP products, and various awards, but if it remains limited to production and retail sales, its added value will remain modest. Tourism is considered the most effective pathway to bring the coffee bean closer to consumers.
Entering the tourism sector will allow Khe Sanh coffee to expand its market, while tourism enterprises and cooperatives will also benefit from the partnership. With its stories of climate, soil conditions, history, and people, Khe Sanh coffee represents a rich source of local content that tourism businesses can use to design tours, create experiences, and develop souvenirs and related services.
More importantly, such cooperation helps Quảng Trị tourism avoid similarities between destinations and create distinctive identity. The purpose of cooperation is not to replace one another’s roles but to enable each side to perform better within a shared narrative.
As one of the pioneers introducing Khe Sanh coffee to tourists participating in tour programs, Trần Xuân Cương, Director of Samuer Co., Ltd., believes that the story behind Khe Sanh coffee is rich enough to become a compelling experiential tourism product. For tourism businesses, it is not simply a souvenir but a valuable narrative element that enhances tour value and creates emotional impressions for visitors. When travelers take home a package of coffee and enjoy its distinctive flavor, they also carry memories of the land they have visited.
Signing of a memorandum of understanding on developing tourism products associated with Khe Sanh coffee
In reality, many tour programs in Quảng Trị are still mainly focused on sightseeing, while experiential activities and interaction with local products remain limited. Visitors often pass through historical sites and attractions, taking photos and learning about history before leaving without fully experiencing the destination through all their senses.Strengthening the connection between tourism enterprises and Khe Sanh coffee will help transform this regional specialty from a simple consumption product into a distinctive tourism souvenir associated with the destination’s identity.
According to Thiên, the Khe Sanh Coffee Association aims for coffee products to be present in about 30 percent of restaurants, hotels, and tourism sites across Quảng Trị by 2026. When Khe Sanh coffee becomes a familiar choice for visitors during their journeys to Quảng Trị, the brand’s reach will increase significantly, not only domestically but also internationally, especially through tour routes that attract foreign tourists.
However, turning this vision into reality will require strong policy support, effective coordination among sectors, and practical operational capacity. As Quảng Trị tourism seeks new drivers for growth, Khe Sanh coffee has the potential to become a “soft ambassador,” bringing the image of this land closer to visitors from both within Vietnam and around the world. In that moment, each cup of coffee will not only carry its familiar bittersweet flavor but will also tell a longer story about Khe Sanh, about Quảng Trị, and about how a land can develop tourism through its authentic local values.