Over 200,000 visitors both at home and abroad have enjoyed the 2013 Da Lat Tourism and Culture Week in the Central Highlands city of the same name, dubbed as a “small Paris” or a “city of thousands of flowers”.

Opening the week on December 27, the local authorities took the occasion to launch the 2014 Central Highlands-Da Lat National Tourism Year, celebrate the city’s 120th founding anniversary and the fifth Da Lat flower festival.

During the five-day event, tourists were charmed with music and dance performances, sightseeing tours and fascinating cultural events in a flowery setting.

In his closing remark, Deputy Chairman of the Lam Dong provincial People’s Committee Doan Van Viet said via the event, Da Lat - a heroic and tourist city has become popular wide and far. Its floriculturists have seen more chances to access domestic and foreign markets, signaling that the city will be a flower cultivation and export centre in the region.

The 2014 Central Highlands-Da Lat National Tourism Year themed “High Mountains, Thick Forests of Central Highlands” will host 37 events next year, 23 of which will get underway in Lam Dong, mainly in Da Lat and its neighboring localities.

Lam Dong province has developed six tours for the national tourism year, offering holiday-makers chances to explore the beauty of forests, mountains, streams and waterfalls as well as the life of local ethnic groups.

The year will also help domestic and foreign businesses operating in the tourism sector step up their cooperation and effectively exploit tourism potential of the region and each of its provinces, including Lam Dong, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Kon Tum.-VNA