Lao Cai leads northern provinces in int’l tourist arrivals

Lao Cai has welcomed international holidaymakers from 70 countries worldwide, becoming one of the five tourist hubs in the north of Vietnam besides Hanoi capital, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh provinces and Hai Phong port city.
Lao Cai has welcomed international holidaymakers from 70 countriesworldwide, becoming one of the five tourist hubs in the north ofVietnam besides Hanoi capital, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh provincesand Hai Phong port city.

The local tourism sectorserved 1,470,000 visitors in 2014, a yearly rise of 16.6 percent,including 545,239 international tourists, and grossing over 3.2 trillionVND (152 million USD) in revenue, up 28.5 percent year-on-year.

In the four-day New Year holiday of 2015, the province greeted nearly70,000 visitors, including 41,120 descending in the resort town of SaPa.

Remarkable growth in the number of visitors andtourism revenue in 2014 and the outset of 2015 made Lao Cai lead othernorthern mountainous provinces in the field, said Tran Huu Son, Directorof the Lao Cai provincial Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism.

This year, local authorities will continue to hold arange of activities to promote their tourism image, potential andstrengths, such as a mountain market in Hanoi, Thuong (upper) templefestival and spiritual tourism events in Lao Cai city, a culture-tourismweek in Sa Pa town, a horse riding tournament in Bac Ha district, andan international marathon tournament.

Located about300 kilometres from the capital city, Lao Cai is said to be one of themost interesting and beautiful areas in Southeast Asia, which is blessedwith an abundance of scenic spots and a treasure chest of biodiversity.

Bac Ha district is inhabited by 14 ethnicminority groups, predominantly H’Mong, Dao, Tay and Nung. The Bac Hamountain market is selected as one of the most 10 attractive markets inSoutheast Asia . It is not only a trading place, but also a venue forcultural exchanges among local people.

Around 38kmfrom Lao Cai city, the whole town of Sa Pa is dominated by the HoangLien Son mountain range which is famous for housing Fansipan,Indochina’s highest mountain, at a height of 3,142m above sea level.

The town was discovered in 1903 and isendowed with myriad natural sites, such as Ham Rong Mountain ,Silver Waterfall and Bamboo Forest . It is home to six main ethnicminority groups with various traditional festivals, unique culturalpractices and regular events such as Bac Ha market and Sa Pa lovemarket.

In 2009, the famous US Travel andLeisure magazine voted the Sa Pa terraces as one of the seven mostbeautiful and spectacular terraces in Asia and the world. In 2013, onthe 110th founding anniversary of the town, the Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism decided to rank Sa Pa terraced fields as aNational Landscape site.-VNA

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