Possessing a "treasure trove" of invaluable tourism resources

Lai Chau is endowed by nature with a priceless “treasure trove” of tourism resources, from majestic landscapes to diverse cultural identities. The province owns 6 out of 10 highest mountains in Vietnam, such as Pu Si Lung (3,083m), Pu Ta Leng (3,049m), Bach Moc Luong Tu (3,046m), and Ta Lien Son (2,993m);… These peaks not only attract adventurous tourists but also offer unique tourism products.

To realize the potential for tourism development, Lai Chau province has built a synchronous system of policies and strategic planning, laying the foundation for a new development stage. Notably, the Project "Preserving and promoting the fine cultural identities of ethnic groups associated with tourism development" for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030, aims to harmoniously combine cultural preservation and tourism economic development. Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee approved Plan No. 1625/KH-UBND dated April 17, 2025 on implementing the Tourism System Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045 in Lai Chau province, clearly defining the development orientation of regions and typical tourism products, creating a basis for attracting investment and effectively exploiting the local tourism potential.

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Rong May Glass Bridge Tourist Area - one of the tourist areas located on the O Quy Ho Pass, a potential location identified as a national tourist area in Decision No. 509/QD-TTg dated June 23, 2024 approved by the Prime Minister. Photo: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lai Chau province

In preparation for entering a new development phase, Lai Chau province has recently actively implemented many solutions to attract investors in the tourism sector. Not only has it strongly reformed administrative procedures in a modern and open direction, the province has also focused on planning tourist routes and destinations in a connected and synchronous manner; forming interconnected community tourism clusters, replacing the previous fragmented approach.

Along with that, Lai Chau focuses on infrastructure investment, improving living conditions and people's access to capital, creating a foundation for sustainable tourism development. In the near future, when inter-village roads, electricity, water, telecommunications and Internet systems are invested synchronously, a new "lifeblood" for highland tourism will be formed, adding energy for Lai Chau's tourism industry to grow strongly, competing on par with other localities.

Lots of room and potential await investors.

In the "treasure" of Lai Chau's tourism resources, there are currently two locations, O Quy Ho Pass and Sin Ho Plateau, which are both on the list of potential locations for national tourism development according to the Tourism System Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2045. To exploit these potentials, the province has been building and implementing many plans so that by 2045, the Sin Ho Plateau and O Quy Ho tourist areas will be eligible for recognition as national tourist areas, contributing to making Lai Chau an attractive destination.

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O Quy Ho Heaven Gate Tourist Area. Photo: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lai Chau province

O Quy Ho - one of the four great mountain passes of Vietnam is located on National Highway 4D, of which 2/3 of the road is in Lai Chau and the rest is in Lao Cai. O Quy Ho has an altitude of about 2,000m above sea level, nearly 50km long. The pass has been legendarily told about a sad love story by the Mong, Dao, Giay... people in the area and today, this place is a favorite tourist destination with specialties of cloud watching, conquering dangerous roads and admiring majestic natural landscapes. Standing on the top of the pass, visitors can look far away to the horizon, admiring the vastness of the Northwest sky and land with overlapping mountains and white clouds. There will soon be a road tunnel project through Hoang Lien, replacing the dangerous road, opening up development opportunities for this tourist destination.

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Sin Ho Plateau - one of two potential tourist areas oriented to develop into a national tourist area by 2045. Photo: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lai Chau province

Sin Ho Plateau - the "roof" of Lai Chau has an average altitude of about 1500 meters above sea level, the climate of Sin Ho Plateau is relatively cool, the weather during the day here has the characteristics of 4 seasons a year, the average annual temperature is about 18 degrees Celsius, this is an ideal condition for tourism development. Not only possessing picturesque landscapes, but this plateau still preserves many traditional cultural features of indigenous ethnic minorities, high-quality agricultural products.

Lai Chau is converging all the elements to shape and develop an investment attraction strategy in the province. The province is committed to creating and “rolling out the red carpet” policy to invite strategic investors by clearly defining investment project portfolios to exploit the full potential advantages of this land. Projects attracting tourism investment are divided into four main groups with 22 portfolios, helping investors easily choose the field that suits their strengths.

The first group develops typical eco-tourism, high-end resorts and adventure tourism such as: Sin Ho Plateau Resort (100ha); "Pu Dao Cloud Sea Valley" eco-tourism area (498ha); Pu Ta Leng Peak Conquest Complex (550ha); Pusamcap National Monument (200ha); Hoang Lien Pass Tourism Complex associated with Tien Son Cave and Khau Co Pass Tourism Area (12ha)...

The second group is lake tourism and typical hydrological exploration such as: Huoi Quang hydroelectric lake tourism complex associated with Ban Me cave (30.38ha); Ban Chat hydroelectric lake complex (1.8ha)...

The third group is to develop tourism in special-use forests and typical protective forests such as: Eco-tourism in forests in communes of Tam Duong district (old) (1,000 hectares); Eco-tourism in special-use and protective forests in communes of Muong Te district (old) (110 hectares)...

The fourth group is community tourism development and cultural identity preservation. This project group focuses on sustainable community tourism development, to preserve identity and create livelihoods.

Striving to turn Sin Ho and O Quy Ho plateau into a national tourist area by 2045, Lai Chau province has proposed 7 main groups of tasks and solutions including:

Organize propaganda, dissemination and implementation of the contents of the Tourism System Planning to all levels, sectors, agencies, localities, units, organizations and individuals in the province; domestic and international investors and development partners to mobilize resources to implement the objectives of the Plan;

Building and developing tourism products suitable to the needs of the tourist market in the new development stage (emphasizing: it is necessary to focus on building and promulgating tourism development projects and programs, mobilizing resources for developing typical tourism products and services in potential tourist areas and destinations to become national tourist areas such as: Sin Ho Plateau, O Quy Ho tourist area...; speeding up the progress of attractive tourism projects, implementing investment procedures such as: Phieng Phat stream tourist area, Pac Ta eco-resort tourist area, Son Binh Eden Garden, Sin Ho plateau tourist area...; developing new tourism products such as: Mountain ecology, caves and waterways of Da river; eco-resort combined with medical treatment and health care; community tourism associated with experiencing traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities; specialized tourism of "festivals", "spirituality"; nature exploration tourism, adventure sports... focusing on located in the communes: Binh Lu, Sin Ho, Nam Hang, Phong Tho...)

Dinh Son

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/lai-chau-nhung-du-dia-tiem-nang-du-lich-dang-cho-duoc-khai-mo-2450456.html