Two to three hours by car from Hanoi, a seaside town in northern Vietnam has been reborn, name and all. On the night of July 10, 2026, Ninh Binh Province officially unveiled the beach formerly called \"Qu\u1ea5t L\u00e2m\" as a new tourism brand, \"Giao Ninh.\" The slogan is \"Giao Ninh\u2014a land of calm the sea calls to.\" Beyond famous beaches like Ha Long Bay,Ha Long Bay's bid to revive fishing-village wooden sailboats and sell the whole sea story<\/a>Just like ___, the northern coast is now reinventing itself into \u201ca destination with experiences to talk about.\u201d At the forefront is Giao Ninh. Here we lay out the background to the name change and what travelers can actually enjoy.<\/p>\n The setting for the announcement was the central plaza of the Giao Ninh tourist area. That evening, the province unveiled both the brand's identity design (logo and colors) and a set of community-based tourism products created by the coastal villages. The logo takes waves, sails, and the horizon as motifs, unified in blue and sand tones drawn from the sea, the sand, and the coastal ecosystem.<\/p>\n The formal decision on the renaming itself was made earlier, on June 17, by the provincial People's Committee. The July 10 ceremony was the occasion to give the decision \"visible form\" and present it. Related events were arranged around the ceremony through about July 13, and the seaside plaza was wrapped in a festive mood for several days.<\/p>\n There are two reasons. One is the reorganization of administrative divisions. Provincial mergers advanced in Vietnam in 2025, and Quat Lam, once a seaside part of the former Nam Dinh Province, is now part of Giao Ninh commune in Ninh Binh Province. The place name had to be brought in line with the new administrative unit.<\/p>\n Another thing locals took more seriously was the \u201cimage refresh.\u201d In its Nam Dinh days, Quat Lam came to be known for lax public morals, and that reputation had overshadowed the appeal of the sea itself. Switching the place name and rebuilding it into a safe, wholesome beach under unified management after the merger\u2014this renaming is not merely swapping a name, but a declaration of a fresh start that resets the negative memory.<\/p>\n The foundation Giao Ninh is trying to build on is by no means weak. In the first half of 2026 alone, Ninh Binh Province grew both visitor numbers and revenue substantially. The figures are all for the province as a whole (including inland attractions like Trang An and Tam Coc), so note they aren't Giao Ninh alone, but they give a sense of the momentum.<\/p>\nThe \u201crenaming\u201d that began on the seaside square on the night of July 10<\/h2>\n
Why they dropped \"Quat Lam\"<\/h2>\n
Ninh Binh tourism's momentum in numbers<\/h2>\n