Developing national tourism Sa Pa is increasingly friendly and hospitable

This is an activity in the series of events "Sa Pa Cultural Tourism Festival in Hanoi" with the aim of promoting, advertising and introducing Sa Pa culture and tourism in Hanoi.

Attending the workshop were: Standing Member of the Committee for Culture and Education Bui Hoai Son; General Secretary of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Vu Quoc Tri; Standing Deputy Secretary of the Sa Pa Town Party Committee Thao A Sinh; Chairman of the Sa Pa Town People's Committee To Ngoc Lien; Vice Chairman of the Sa Pa Town People's Committee Do Van Tan; and representatives of the Hoan Kiem District leaders.

Making Sa Pa a beacon for tourism development — *Standing Member of the Committee for Culture and Education Bui Hoai Son speaks*

Speaking at the workshop, Chairman of Sa Pa Town People's Committee To Ngoc Lien said: Sa Pa is a young town of Lao Cai province, upgraded to a town from January 1, 2020, including: 10 communes and 6 wards with 84 villages and 27 residential groups, more than 300km from Hanoi capital, 35km southwest of Lao Cai center, located on National Highway 4D from Lao Cai to Lai Chau, is the gateway between the two regions of Northeast and Northwest. With a natural area of 68,473 hectares; population of over 72,000 people, including 6 main ethnic groups (Mong, Dao, Tay, Giay, Xa Pho, Kinh).

Making Sa Pa a beacon for tourism development -0 — *Chairman of Sa Pa Town People's Committee To Ngoc Lien speaks at the conference. Photo: Thanh Binh*

In recent years, with the joint efforts of the Party Committee, government, businesses and local communities, Sa Pa's tourism activities have increasingly developed in both quality and quantity; many places in Sa Pa have been evaluated and voted with impressive titles such as: 1/50 most beautiful towns in the world; 1/14 destinations to explore when coming to Asia; 1/10 most attractive tourist destinations in Southeast Asia...

Sa Pa was officially recognized as a National Tourist Area in 2017 and in 2020 officially transferred from rural government to urban government, this is a great advantage for the development of Sa Pa in general and Sa Pa tourism in particular.

Despite being heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, from 2020 to the end of the first quarter of 2022, the number of tourists decreased sharply. However, when the pandemic was controlled, Sa Pa tourism quickly recovered - by the end of 2022, Sa Pa town welcomed over 2.5 million visitors; by 2023 - the year Sa Pa tourism turned 120 years old, the town welcomed over 3.68 million visitors.

At the workshop, delegates were introduced to the socio-economic development of the town; the current status of Sa Pa tourism and the development orientation in the coming time. Many opinions suggested important solutions, orientations for the development strategy of Sa Pa tourism to be more unique, attractive, friendly, professional - towards a clean ASEAN tourist city in the coming time.

Speaking at the workshop, Standing Member of the Committee for Culture and Education Bui Hoai Son said: With majestic natural landscapes, typical climate and unique ethnic culture, Sa Pa is one of the famous tourist destinations of Vietnam and the world. Sa Pa is one of the attractive brands of Vietnamese tourism. Accordingly, the development of Sa Pa will be an inspiration for the development of tourism in Lao Cai province. At the same time, it is hoped that the participating opinions will be documents, scientific arguments and theoretical lessons to help Sa Pa town research, absorb and synthesize into important groups of solutions, orienting the strategy for developing Sa Pa tourism in the coming period, so that Sa Pa is truly worthy of being a national key tourist area of international stature.

"Sa Pa Cultural Tourism Festival in Hanoi" takes place from April 5 to April 7 at the Octagonal Floor Area - Behind Ly Thai To Monument, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi City with many special programs such as: "Dance under the moon"; "Love market"; Re-enactment of the market space and Sa Pa love market... The programs promise to bring meaningful and impressive experiences to a large number of tourists and people of Hanoi Capital.

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