Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Thelocality has developed numerous special tourism products and built tourismculture villages in Bac Ha, Sa Pa, Muong Khuong districts, thus preserving and promotingtangible and intangible cultural heritages.
Afocus has been placed on promoting traditional crafts, such as brocade making,sculpture, blacksmith, and carpentry, as well as local special products such asrice, chili sauce, Sa Pa rose.
Community-basedtourism models have been developed in ethnic minority areas, contributing toeradicating hunger and reducing poverty while raising the public awareness ofprotecting traditional cultural values.
LaoCai has over 200 community-based tourism facilities. The Na Hoi – Ta Chaihomestay complex in Bac Ha has been recognised as the ASEAN community-basedtourism site.
Theprovince’s tourism sector has also focused on diversifying its products andimproving service quality. Some kinds of tourism have thrived such as resortsin Sa Pa and Bac Ha, ecotourism in connection with Fansipan and Hoang Lien SonNational Park, shopping tourism in border gate areas, food discovery tours, spiritualtourism and cross-border tours.
LaoCai has boosted tourism connection with nearby localities such as Yen Bai, PhuTho, Lai Chau and Ha Giang.
Numeroustourism facilities have been built across the province, such as Thanh Kim, HamRong, Cat Cat resorts in Sa Pa, Ho Na Co in Bac Ha, and Fansipan cable network.
Theprovince has also devised many policies facilitating tourism development with aview to turning itself into a key tourist destination of the northwesternregion and the nation by 2030.
LaoCai is featured by the 3,134 metre-high Fansipan peak, known as the roof of theIndochina, terrace fields, and Hoang Lien Son national park with diversespecies of flora and fauna.
Cloud-coveredSa Pa town is a magnet to domestic and international tourists thanks to itspicturesque landscapes and favourable climate for ecotourism development.
Besides,the province has numerous traditional festivals, such as the maturity ritual(Cap Sac) of the Dao ethnic minority, horse racing festival in Bac Hadistrict, as well as temples and pagodas to develop spiritual tourism.
Italso boasts 18 national intangible cultural heritages, including the tug-of-wargame of the Tay and Giay communities honoured by UNESCO as an IntangibleCultural Heritage of Humanity, and 18 national relic sites.
From2011 – 2015, the number of tourists to Lao Cai increased by 22 percentannually.
Tourismhas become an important economic sector, contributing 11.5 percent to theprovince’s GRDP during the period.
In2016, the locality received 2.7 million visitors, up 33 percent from 2015, includingnearly one million foreigners.
Thesector generated 6.3 trillion VND (278.28 million USD) and created jobs for10,000 labourers.-VNA
VNA
