The National Tourism Year 2017 Lao Cai-Tay Bac rounded off with a ceremony held in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai on December 16.
Addressing the event, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Dang Xuan Phong reviewed achievements of the National Tourism Year which took the theme of “Northwest colours.”
Through the year, the awareness of agencies, businesses and people about the role of tourism as well as their responsibility for the tourism sector have been improved significantly, he said.
Therefore, he noted, the sector has attracted many strategic investors and many households have escaped from poverty thanks to tourism.
The number of tourists and tourism revenue of Lao Cai and other north-western localities in 2017 have expanded by over 30 percent as compared with the previous year, contributing to local socio-economic development.
On this occasion, Lao Cai received Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s decision recognising Sa Pa resort town as a national tourism site, which is also the second of its kind nationwide.
The PM has also agreed in principle with Lao Cai’s planning to upgrade Sa Pa district to a town in 2018.
Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Economic Commission, applauded efforts made by Lao Cai and other regional localities to organise the National Tourism Year.
He urged the tourism sector and localities nationwide to pay more heed to raising public awareness of tourism, restructure the sector, complete policies, invest more in infrastructure and intensify tourism promotion.
The 2018 National Tourism Year will be hosted by the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh.
The same day, the Steering Committee of the North-western Region, the Economic Commission, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Lao Cai People’s Committee organised a conference to promote regional tourism products.
The participants stressed the need to promptly build a master plan on tourism development for the region and sub-regions by 2030.
At the conference, representatives of Saigontourist, Hanoitourist, Viettravel and Asia Paradise JSC signed agreements with relevant localities on promoting tourism products via the four routes of Tuyen Quang-Ha Giang-Bac Kan-Cao Bang-Lang Son; Hoa Binh-Son La-Dien Bien-Lai Chau; Phu Tho-Yen Bai-Lao Cai-Ha Giang; and Son La. -VNA