Billion-dollar 'leverages' for Da Lat to make a spectacular breakthrough

When the French discovered Da Lat and planned to build this city into the most special temperate resort center in Asia 132 years ago, this land satisfied the 4 strict conditions they set: Altitude over 1,200 m above sea level, abundant water resources, good arable land and transportation that could connect to surrounding areas. However, with the altitude and many rugged mountain ranges, the French had to struggle for nearly 20 years to be able to connect Da Lat with the major surrounding centers such as Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Phan Rang or Nha Trang.

Connectivity has been a problem for Da Lat in recent years. The transportation system with narrow, winding roads over mountain passes from the French era is overloaded and has only been patchily repaired. Many people say that the long travel time makes Da Lat lose many development opportunities, separates it from surrounding areas, and does not match its potential as the most special city in Asia in terms of nature. For Da Lat to really accelerate, the Lam Dong provincial government is determined to solve the problem of traffic infrastructure.

Billion dollar infrastructure

Lam Dong is promoting the development of transport infrastructure.

Regarding roads, the two expressways Tan Phu - Bao Loc and Bao Loc - Lien Khuong with a total length of nearly 140 km and an investment capital of about 37,000 billion VND (about 1.5 billion USD) are two of the key projects of Lam Dong province. On March 31, the People's Committee of Lam Dong province issued a Decision approving the investment project to build the Bao Loc - Lien Khuong expressway under the public-private partnership method (phase 1). This is a level I road traffic project belonging to Group A project with a total length of about 73.62 km.

According to Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, the Tan Phu - Bao Loc expressway project will also be completed and approved before April 30, with the aim of starting construction on both expressways before the third quarter of this year. This is a project that the entire political system is committed to with the highest determination to change the development situation of Lam Dong.

This route will connect with the Lien Khuong - Prenn Pass and Prenn Pass (Da Lat) expressways which have been upgraded to shorten the travel time from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat to only 3-4 hours, instead of 6-7 hours as at present. This expressway also opens up a new development direction for Da Lat when Long Thanh airport comes into operation, even connecting with Ba Ria - Vung Tau and the Western provinces through the expressway system and Ho Chi Minh City beltway which is about to be completed.

Lien Khuong – Prenn expressway connects Lien Khuong airport with Da Lat gateway.

With the approach from Nha Trang, a nearly 81km long highway project connecting Nha Trang - Da Lat has been proposed by Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces to be completed early with a total investment of VND 25,058 billion (about USD 1 billion). When put into operation, it is expected to shorten the travel time from Nha Trang to Da Lat to 1.5 - 2 hours, making Da Lat closer to the sea than ever. This is an opportunity to connect two tourist centers into an exciting journey with both the world's top beautiful bay and the most unique temperate highland tourist city in Asia.

In addition, Da Lat city itself has also invested heavily to upgrade its traffic infrastructure with bypasses, ring roads, and intersection renovations. Recently, the bypass road into Da Lat city from the foot of Prenn pass to Xuan Tho commune is being considered by Lam Dong province authorities for design and implementation costs. These are all strategic steps to help Da Lat solve urban development problems, becoming more and more attractive and convenient.

New destination of the world

Traffic connecting Da Lat is not only convenient by road but also promises to receive strong investment in both railway and air routes. Recently, the China Railway 2 Bureau worked with Lam Dong province and proposed to participate in the project to restore the Da Lat - Thap Cham cog railway.

This railway line was once researched and built with a total capital of 27,000 billion VND (1.1 billion USD) in 2022. This is one of the most special railway lines in the world, a heritage railway, a tourist railway with an average gradient of 12%, running on cogwheels, connecting Da Lat with the central coast, creating a rare tourist highlight of mountain railways in the world.

Lien Khuong International Airport is upgraded and expanded.

Regarding air transport, in the period of 2021-2030, Lien Khuong International Airport will be a level 4E airport (according to the standard code of the International Civil Aviation Organization - ICAO) and a level II military airport; with a capacity of 5 million passengers/year and 20,000 tons of cargo/year. By 2050, Lien Khuong Airport is planned to be a level 4E airport and a level II military airport; with a capacity of 7 million passengers/year and 30,000 tons of cargo/year. At that time, high-end international tourists can fly directly to Da Lat, not inferior to major resort centers in the world.

Tourists coming to Lam Dong, focusing on Da Lat, reached a record number of more than 10 million visitors in 2024.

According to experts, Lam Dong province has been and is in the stage of opening major roads for development, building highways to open the southern gateway, connecting routes to the Central Highlands, Southeast, and South Central regions. This will be a strategic step to pave the way for breakthrough development of Da Lat and Lam Dong, of which tourism development is typical.

In 2024, Lam Dong will welcome its 10 millionth visitor for the first time, bringing in revenue of 18 trillion VND. These figures are considered impressive and a remarkable development by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lam Dong. In the first quarter of 2025, the estimated revenue from accommodation and food services is expected to reach 4,074 billion VND, up 10.07% over the same period. Tourism revenue in the first quarter of 2025 is expected to reach 15.2 billion VND, up 3.67% over the same period.

InterContinental international standard 5-star resort appeared for the first time in Dalat.

In particular, Da Lat has just welcomed a series of international legends such as the health care brand Chiva-Som from Thailand, making Da Lat a leading wellness center in Southeast Asia; or the 5-star international standard resort complex InterContinental Hotels & Resorts will come into operation in 2027, becoming the first 5-star international standard resort to appear in Da Lat, contributing to solving the problem for luxury guests who want to find relaxation and resort in the leading tourist capital of Vietnam on the world tourism map.

Hebei

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/nhung-don-bay-ty-usd-cho-da-lat-but-pha-ngoan-muc-post545026.html