The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, home to a large number of ethnic minorities and their distinct cultures and heritages, is looking to develop tourism while preserving traditional cultures.

Dak Lak is proud to fall within the cultural space of gongs, recognised by UNESCO as an intangible and oral masterpiece of human culture in 2006.

Boasting traditional craft villages and a series of festivals, the locality has great potential to develop community-based and cultural tourism.

In order to implement its strategy of tourism development and cultural conservation, local authorities have focused investing in constructing and upgrading infrastructure. Natural landscapes have been preserved while cultural and historical relic sites have been restored and embellished.

The organisation of traditional festivals contributes to promoting the locality’s image to domestic and foreign visitors.

In recent years, Dak Lak has seen a considerable amount of socio-economic development, especially in tourism.

In 2011, the province welcomed about 310,000 tourists, earning 235 billion VND (10.8 million USD). The number of visitors to the locality increased to 467,000 in 2014, raking in 360 billion VND, up nearly 16 percent against the previous year. According to Nguyen Thuy Phuong Hieu from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the local cultural sector is working with travel firms to develop cultural and tourism activities, generating jobs for local residents and preserving cultural values.

The locality is set to become one of the nation’s tourism centres, making tourism its spearhead economic sector.-VNA