With favourable natural conditions, 122-year-old Da Lat city is working to secure a role as a key agricultural and tourism centre in the Lam Dong Central Highland province.

The biggest city in Lam Dong and the province’s political and administrative centre, Da Lat has been the locomotive of local development in key economic sectors, particularly hi-tech agriculture, trade, services and tourism.

Besides its long-time reputation as a resort city with romantic landscape and temperate climate, the city with a population of 216,000 has undergone a dramatic change particularly in its suburban areas.

Based on the traditional farms, hi-tech agriculture is gaining momentum, with 4,500 ha cultivated using latest farming techniques, further reinforcing the trademarks of Da Lat vegetables and flowers.

The city is home to 4,440 ha under flowers, nearly two-thirds of the province’s total flower fields, producing 1.5 billion flowers last year out of the province’s output of 2.3 billion.

Da Lat also has 6,600 ha under vegetable, ranking third in the province in terms of area and output, but the city’s products fetch much higher economic value thanks to the application of advanced cultivation technology.

Together with promoting hi-tech agriculture, Da Lat is exerting efforts to become the country’s leading agri-tourism destination.

Nguyen Thi Nguyen, Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, highlighted that Da Lat will focus on developing its eco-tourism, resorts and conference centres.

She added that it will leverage its agricultural potential to offer agri-tourism, attracting both domestic and foreign visitors to the city.
Popular agri-tourism activities include farm trips for visitors to try their hands at planting and taking care of flower and vegetable, or sightseeing and picking fruits at farms.

Last year, over 3.6 million tourists arrived in Da Lat, out of the total 4.8 million visitors to Lam Dong province.-VNA