1:39:51 PM | 12/11/2018
In the past time, the tourism sector of Lam Dong province has gradually asserted its role as a dynamic economic sector, with stable growth and tourist arrivals rising steadily by 10-11 per cent a year from 2010 to 2017. The Vietnam Business Forum Magazine has an interview with Ms Nguyen Thi Nguyen, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lam Dong Province. Hoang Lam reports.
Could you please brief us on outstanding tourism achievements of Lam Dong province in the past time?
Along with the advantages of a well-connected transport infrastructure system, Lam Dong province has focused on enhancing the quality and number of technical infrastructure systems in the past years. The province had 1,377 hotels with 20,576 rooms, 63 travel businesses and tourist transport firms, and 35 commercial tourist attractions and more than 60 free attractions as of September 2018.
With better investment policies and mechanisms and more favourable conditions to draw domestic and foreign investment resources for tourism development, Lam Dong has attracted 112 projects with a combined registered capital of VND50,000 billion (US$2.2 billion), of which 31 projects are operational to meet increasing tourist demand.
Tourism development has also produced positive impacts on other manufacturing and service sectors, as it generated more than 11,000 full-time jobs and about 30,000 indirect jobs for local people. Da Lat - Lam Dong was also recognised by the world’s leading travel magazines, television channels and forums such as the New York Times, CNN, TripAdvisor and touropia.com.
With the goal of professionally developing tourism, improving tourism product quality, ensuring tourism competitiveness and sustainability, in addition to traditional tourism products (ecotourism and sightseeing), the tourism industry has pushed up investment in new tourism product development to draw the attention of domestic and foreign visitors such as agricultural tourism and adventure tourism. The sector has also expanded and developed distinctive tours, routes and products to increase visitor stays in Da Lat - Lam Dong as the “Paradise of Love”, “Da Lat in Nature” and “Da Lat Golf”; and set up theme-based tourist routes such as the northern route of Da Lat City (Da Lat - Dan Kia - Suoi Vang - Dam Rong and Da Lat - Bidoup National Park - Nui Ba - Da Sar - Da Chais), the western route of Da Lat City (Da Lat - Lam Ha - Di Linh - Bao Lam - Da Teh), the southern route of Da Lat City (Da Lat - Duc Trong - Di Linh - Bao Loc - Da Huoai) and the eastern route of Da Lat City (Da Lat - Don Duong).
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In the current trend, tourists visit not only a single place of interest, but different destinations. So, to meet tourist needs, how has the tourism sector of Lam Dong province strengthened tourism development cooperation with other provinces and cities in the Central Highlands and in the country?
Understanding the importance of local cooperation to tourism development, Lam Dong province has focused on tourism development cooperation with many localities in the country. To date, Lam Dong province’s tourism development cooperation programmes with other localities have produced positive effects, from State management to identification of key markets; built specific products; connected tours, routes and destinations; and coordinated in promoting local tourism images. The cooperation in tourism promotion, policymaking, product development and human resources has helped assert the tourism brand. Especially, the province has managed to develop some tourism brands such as “Sai Gon Market - Da Lat Flower - Mui Ne Beach” (Lam Dong - Binh Thuan - Ho Chi Minh City); “Forest and Sea Tourism” (Lam Dong - Khanh Hoa); “Flower and Heritage Tourism” (Lam Dong - Quang Nam - Da Nang - Thua Thien Hue). Lam Dong also coordinated with Hanoi, Nghe An province, Central Highland provinces, and southern provinces to form and operate attractive tours and tourism routes such as festival tours, ecological tourism, marine and mountainous adventure.
To carry out cooperation programmes, Lam Dong province has actively worked with other localities to organise preliminary and final programmes to assess results and propose solutions to address existing shortages and unify cooperation contents in the coming years. The province has regularly exchanged and shared experiences in product development investment; made public annual event plans to attract visitors; and addressed cooperation problems. Cooperation enables tourism firms to sign contracts on business cooperation and tourism investment. The image of Da Lat - Lam Dong tourism and tourism development cooperation network have been increasingly expanded and brought certain effects on local tourism development.
What key solutions will Lam Dong take to facilitate tourism development in the coming time?
In the current context and trend of international integration and global competition, to deliver objectives and tasks of Resolution 08-NQ/TW of the Politburo on developing tourism to become a spearhead economic sector and Resolution 07-NQ/TU of the Lam Dong Province Party Committee on high-quality tourism development in the 2016 - 2020 period and to 2025, in the coming time, the tourism sector of Lam Dong province will continue to implement many tasks and solutions to professionalise and improve tourism product quality. Particularly, the province will prioritise investment for tourism infrastructure improvement, especially transport infrastructure in domestic destinations to Da Lat - Lam Dong; and open more domestic and international flights to Da Lat - Lam Dong. The province will continue investing in upgrading power, water, post and telecommunication and urban infrastructure systems and effectively carry out the “Building Da Lat into a smart city in the 2018-2025 period” project to facilitate tourism development. It will study and complete investment attraction policies and provide favourable conditions for investors to speed up the implementation of new product development projects in order to diversify tourist products and prolong visitors' stay time.
Besides, the province will focus on improving the quality and developing ecological and agricultural tourism products, and adventure sports tourism into highly competitive and distinctive tourism products of Da Lat - Lam Dong. It will renovate and raise the quality of promotion activities and professionally advertise tourism for specific target tourists and markets, especially internationals; develop human resources to meet tourism development requirements; raise the sense of responsibility of people and tourists in preserving environmental sanitation and landscapes; uphold polite behaviour in tourism and business; and gradually build Da Lat - Lam Dong into a civilised, friendly and secure destination.
Thank you very much!
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