Sunset on Co To Island.

From 2020 to 2025, Co To’s economy recorded an average annual growth rate of 16.03%, surpassing the province’s average. The local economic structure consists of 65% trade and services, 20% industry and construction, and 15% agriculture. Local budget revenue increased by an average of 10% per year. Services and tourism are increasingly becoming key economic drivers of the special zone.

Tourism and service infrastructure in Co To have developed in a coordinated fashion, featuring diverse planned tourism products and a significantly expanded ecosystem and space. Tourist accommodations and services have rapidly increased in both quantity and quality, with the Co To Special Zone now hosting around 300 accommodation facilities.

Nguyen Hong Sang, owner of Diamond Co To Homestay in Hong Hai village, the Co To Special Zone, said his family has nearly 20 years of experience in providing tourism services on the island, with diverse services such as homestays, dining, island tours, and event organisation. Currently, the family operates 18 homestays with a 100% occupancy rate during the peak season.

Embracing green tourism trends, Sang’s family uses and encourages travellers to utilise eco-friendly materials, contributing to protecting the island’s natural environment.

In recent years, Co To has developed a marine aquaculture project to enhance the management, conservation, and promotion of the island’s natural values and potential, while creating stable and sustainable employment for local fishermen alongside tourism development.

Co To aims to develop a modern, sustainable, and environmentally friendly marine economy, focusing on marine ecotourism and cultural tourism to promote the island’s maritime values. It also plans to encourage circular economy models, renewable and clean energy, high-tech marine farming, and maritime logistics, along with planning marine spaces, ecosystem conservation, and addressing climate change, according to Le Ngoc Han, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Co To Special Zone.

The special zone has identified tourism as a mission to share its natural wonders and cultural depth with the wider world. The local government remains committed to partnering with residents and businesses to develop tourism in a green, safe, and distinctive manner, with a strong focus on conservation, innovation, and sustainable development.

Attention will be paid to investing in connected transport infrastructure, including ports, inland waterway docks, coastal ring roads, a helicopter airport, seaplane docks, and a bridge linking Thanh Lan to Co To Island. Further development will include marine farming infrastructure, setting up a marine tourism and cultural centre, fishing logistics hubs, renewable energy zones, and a smart urban system with comprehensive governance and online public services.

Over the past five years, Co To welcomed around 1.2 million visitors, 1.5 times higher than in the previous period, with tourism revenue reaching an estimated 3 trillion VND (114.17 million USD), up 1.8 times compared to 2015–2020.

Nguyen Hai Linh, head of the culture and social affairs bureau of the special zone, said that Co To will develop a year-round tourism ecosystem, diversifying tourism products, including forest – sea ecotourism in the spring and summer, healing and sea sports tourism in the autumn, and resort and experience tourism in the winter.