More than 75,000 domestic holiday-makers accounted for the lion’s share of the figure. As a result, the Sa Pa national tourism site’s revenue exceeded VND 242 billion (USD 10.39 million) in the period, an annual increase of 200 percent.
Local destinations that attracted the largest number of tourists included the tourism-culture-entertainment complex Fansipan Legend, and the Cat Cat and Ham Rong tourism sites.
Located 350km northwest of Hanoi, Sa Pa is 1,600m above sea level, with average temperatures of 15-18°C. The town is dominated by the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, which is home to Indochina’s highest mountain of Fansipan at a height of 3,142m above sea level.
Sa Pa has many natural scenic sites such as Ham Rong Mountain, Thac Bac (Silver Waterfall), Cau May (Rattan Bridge), Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave. The hill town is home to six main ethnic minority groups, including Kinh, Hmong, Dao, Tay, Day and Xa Pho with various traditional festivals and unique cultural practices.
The district now houses nearly 700 lodging facilities, accommodating about 7,000 rooms.
In April alone, some 623,000 people visited Lao Cai, bringing the total number of tourists to the province in the first four months of 2019 to over 2 million, up 119 percent year on year. Between January and April, Lao Cai earned more than VND 8.47 trillion (USD 363.7 million) from tourism, an annual rise of 72.1 percent.
Source: VNA