Hotels in Sa Pa resort town, Bac Hadistrict and Lao Cai city, the northern mountainous province of Lao Caiwere fully booked during the first half of the year, according to localauthorities.
Local food specialties were sold out due to adramatic increase in the number of visitors after the Hanoi-Lao CaiExpressway was opened to traffic late last year, the local authority ofLao Cai province has reported.
Lu Van Khuyen, head of the Cultureand Information Department of Sa Pa town, said the number of touristsarriving in the town in the first half of the year had increased by 30percent against the same period last year.
As a result, the localtourism sector was running at full throttle, Khuyen said. Hotel roomswere fully booked, while local culinary specialties such as salmon andsturgeon had always been in great demand, he said.
Trinh XuanTruong, Chairman of the Sa Pa district People's Committee, said theshortage of hotel rooms and local food specialties had occurred despitethe local authority predicting that the number of tourists visiting SaPa and other well-known tourist destinations in the province wouldincrease when the expressway was opened.
This was a good signal to boost food cultivation for the locals, he said.
InBac Ha district, which is famous for its Sunday market, where thousandsof members of ethnic minority groups gather, the number of touristarrivals has increased by 20 to 30 percent, which has brought higherprofits to the tourism sector and allied businesses.
To meet thetourists' demands, the local authority recently introduced a nightbazaar that opens on weekends. The district has also launched tourismpromotion campaigns and started trekking tours to ethnic minorityvillages high in the mountains.
To promote tourism and benefitfrom the Hanoi-Lao Cai Expressway, Lao Cai province needs to do muchmore, the local authority said.
Besides building and upgradinghotels and improving services, the province will draw up plans to expandorchards of select fruits and open more fodder farms to ensure a safeand abundant food supply.-VNA
Local food specialties were sold out due to adramatic increase in the number of visitors after the Hanoi-Lao CaiExpressway was opened to traffic late last year, the local authority ofLao Cai province has reported.
Lu Van Khuyen, head of the Cultureand Information Department of Sa Pa town, said the number of touristsarriving in the town in the first half of the year had increased by 30percent against the same period last year.
As a result, the localtourism sector was running at full throttle, Khuyen said. Hotel roomswere fully booked, while local culinary specialties such as salmon andsturgeon had always been in great demand, he said.
Trinh XuanTruong, Chairman of the Sa Pa district People's Committee, said theshortage of hotel rooms and local food specialties had occurred despitethe local authority predicting that the number of tourists visiting SaPa and other well-known tourist destinations in the province wouldincrease when the expressway was opened.
This was a good signal to boost food cultivation for the locals, he said.
InBac Ha district, which is famous for its Sunday market, where thousandsof members of ethnic minority groups gather, the number of touristarrivals has increased by 20 to 30 percent, which has brought higherprofits to the tourism sector and allied businesses.
To meet thetourists' demands, the local authority recently introduced a nightbazaar that opens on weekends. The district has also launched tourismpromotion campaigns and started trekking tours to ethnic minorityvillages high in the mountains.
To promote tourism and benefitfrom the Hanoi-Lao Cai Expressway, Lao Cai province needs to do muchmore, the local authority said.
Besides building and upgradinghotels and improving services, the province will draw up plans to expandorchards of select fruits and open more fodder farms to ensure a safeand abundant food supply.-VNA
