Paradoxically, despite strong stimulus, Sa Pa is still deserted during the April 30 holiday.

Even though it was the middle of the holiday, under the shade of the tree right in front of Sa Pa Stone Church, many motorbike taxi drivers and taxi drivers were sitting and waiting for a long time without any customers.

Ms. Do Thi Duyen, a driver of Xanh Sa Pa taxi, shared: “Every year, traffic here is congested for hours, cars cannot move, but this year the number of passengers is too low. Even though it is a holiday, from 7am to noon, taxi drivers like me only earn 50,000 VND, it is very difficult to make a living.”

According to Ms. Nguyen Hong Thuy, Manager of Sa Pa Village Hotel on Dien Bien Street, only on April 28 did the room occupancy rate of this facility reach a high level, the rest remained at only 50-60%.

“I think this is a common situation, all businesses and hotels in Sa Pa have the same comment. I have surveyed around, but in fact, right in the busiest center, Xuan Vien area to the Stone Church, the number of guests is not even equal to some weekends in early March,” said Ms. Thuy.

Motorbike taxis and taxis sit long waiting for customers

Local authorities initially predicted that Sa Pa would attract around 150,000 visitors this holiday. But after three days of the holiday, the town has only received less than 85,000 visitors. If there are no major changes compared to previous holidays, it is unlikely that a large number of visitors will come to Sa Pa in the final days.

According to Mr. Pham Cao Vy, Chairman of Lao Cai Province Tourism Association, there are a number of objective factors affecting the flow of tourists to Sa Pa this year such as: the attraction of Dien Bien tourism on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory; high domestic airfares; foreign tours with attractive prices...

“Traveling through the border gate to China is only a few million VND for a package tour of several days, and tours to other countries are also cheap. While domestic tours are expensive, a round-trip airfare from the South alone costs more than 10 million VND, so who would want to go? This year, there are almost no tourists from the South going to Sa Pa,” said Mr. Pham Cao Vy.

The Quan yard area - the most central place of Sa Pa - is also deserted.

Mr. Vy also expressed regret because the Party Committee, the government and the local tourism association have made great efforts to stimulate the market. In early April, the Sa Pa Cultural Tourism Festival was brought down the mountain to serve the people of the capital. During the holiday, many large, elaborate and innovative events were held, such as: Rose Festival; Cultural exchange with the participation of the art troupe of Binh Bien district (Yunnan - China); product launch "Reunion - Sa Pa Love Market"; Street festival; Sa Pa tourism promotion conference... In addition, the intense heat has had an extreme impact in many localities but is an ideal opportunity to attract tourists to Sa Pa for vacation, but in reality the market is still gloomy.

Some opinions also say that if it is not objective factors but subjective reasons such as high prices, damaged landscapes, cultural loss, etc. leading tourists to choose other destinations instead of Sa Pa, then it is also something worth pondering.

Exotic costumes at Cat Cat tourist site have received much criticism.

In contrast to the gloomy appearance of Sa Pa, at Lao Cai International Border Gate, from the first day of the holiday, it was crowded with tourists. According to regulations, the border gate opens at 7am, but an hour before, in front of the inter-sectoral house handling immigration procedures, there was no more room to stand. Mr. Vu Hong Diep from Xuan Mai ( Hanoi ) shared.

“My family and friends’ schedule is to go for 5 days, 4 destinations, go to China and then return to Sa Pa. The China tour alone is about 3 million, all-inclusive, this price is very reasonable for low-income people like me to take advantage of the holiday,” said Mr. Diep.

According to Major Dao Van Ninh, Head of Lao Cai International Border Gate Border Guard Station, the total number of visitors entering and exiting the border gate during the first 3 days of the holiday was about 7,000, an increase of 1.5 times compared to the same period last year.

“We maintain order and security as well as increase the number of check-in booths to facilitate passengers to pass through the border gate as quickly as possible, in accordance with the procedures and regulations of the Border Guard Command,” said Major Dao Van Ninh.

Many tourists choose cheap short tours to China

It is known that the majority of passengers passing through Lao Cai border gate this time are Vietnamese tourists traveling for short periods with passports to famous destinations in Yunnan (China), while in the opposite direction, not many Chinese tourists come.

At the tourism promotion conference in Sa Pa held on April 27, with the participation of representatives from Yunnan, Lao Cai and Sa Pa also expressed their opinions on strengthening cooperation; at the same time, discussed solutions to make tourism activities more open, reduce congestion, increase the number of tourists to ensure harmony between cooperation aspects, in the spirit of mutual benefit.

Source: https://vov.vn/du-lich/nghich-ly-du-manh-me-kich-cau-sa-pa-van-diu-hiu-khach-dip-nghi-le-304-post1092342.vov